Times of Trial
by LinZE
Summary: This story is and will probably always be, centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. All reviews are welcome smile
1. Chapter 1

TIMES OF TRIAL  
  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  
Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.  
  
A/N: Well here's the first chapter of another one of the stories that have been buzzing around my head for a little too long. This is just an idea but at the moment I'm only certain about the first few chapters and where they're heading, so I figured I could make this into a kind of interactive fic as I go along. You would get a set of options for where the story could go and I would follow the most popular route. Like I said just and idea at the moment but review and let me know what you think.  
  
*****  
  
"Oh come on MG." Said Poppy rolling her eyes as her friend pulled another   
  
letter towards her. "We're going to be late!"  
  
"No we are not." Her companion replied firmly. "Jut let me finish one more   
  
reply then I'll be with you or, you could always just go..." She trailed off as   
  
Poppy acquiesced and moved to the other side of the room and sat down by the   
  
crackling fire. She knew that Minerva would never actually miss a quiditch game   
  
(especially a Slytherin/Gryffindor match) if she could avoid it but she was   
  
cutting it a bit fine this time. She was more than aware however, that even the   
  
work-a-holic deputy headmistress was struggling to keep up with her increased   
  
workload this term. Hell since the beginning of the summer it had been   
  
distinctly manic for those willing to see what was really happening around them.   
  
The headmaster had spent most of the holidays travelling around the country, and   
  
abroad gathering support for a cause that really should not have been theirs   
  
alone and even since the school had come back into session he had had to leave   
  
for a number of extended periods. Unsurprisingly enough Minerva had risen to   
  
the challenge like the true Gryffindor she was. Her job was not being made any   
  
easier by Serverus-bloody-Snape though. She was a trusting woman by nature but   
  
Snape certainly wasn't doing anything to reassure them about his allegiances.   
  
Well, that wasn't necessarily true - he did his job as well as he had always   
  
done it but he certainly wasn't offering to help MG with all the extra work she   
  
had accumulated. Her friend broke her train of thought as she stood up giving   
  
one last glance to the piles of parchment yet to be touched.  
  
"Right then - Let's get going shall we?" Minerva said heading for the door.  
  
"Cloak." The mediwitch reminded gently. The transfigurations professor may have   
  
been incredibly intelligent but sometimes she just didn't know how to look out   
  
for herself. Poppy was sure it would snow before nightfall - maybe they would   
  
get a white Christmas after all this year.  
  
"Yes ma'am." She got a quick salute and a rare sparkling smile for her trouble.  
  
"Well just don't come running to me if you catch this blasted muggle cold that's   
  
going round." She told her holding out the thick dark cloak she had unhooked   
  
from the back of the door.  
  
"Poppy, in all honesty, have you ever known me to run to you for anything?" She   
  
had to smile at this; Minerva had always been stubborn and generally refused to   
  
admit that she was ever ill never mind in need of visiting the hospital wing.  
  
There were only a few straggling students still in the halls as they made their   
  
way past the Gryffindor common room, which the head of house's office and   
  
quarters were above, and down the main staircase. When they reached the   
  
entrance hall they came upon a group of Ravenclaw sixth years and as the two   
  
adults approached one of the girls, Sophie she thought, came over to intercept   
  
them.  
  
"Excuse me Professor, but I was going over yesterday's class notes and I'm still   
  
not sure about Gedant's law. Do you think that maybe...?"  
  
"Of course Miss Baxter, if you would care to come to my office after lunch, I'm   
  
sure my team will have succeeded in putting their opposition in their place by   
  
then, I'll go over it again with you. I have some other material that we could   
  
go through as well that might help."  
  
"Thank you." The young woman said smiling softly. "And I certainly hope that   
  
the Slytherin team are taught the lesson they deserve. Enjoy the game." With   
  
that she turned and returned to her friends as both groups headed for the door   
  
again. Poppy looked up as she heard Minerva sigh quietly beside her. Realising   
  
she had been caught the other woman decided to offer an explanation straight up.  
  
"Albus is due back from London first thing tomorrow and I was hoping to have   
  
everything sorted before he got back." Poppy understood. Minerva was a teacher   
  
through and through and would always put her students first but a tutorial   
  
session this afternoon would detain her further from the correspondence and   
  
other paperwork that were mounting around her. They reached the stadium before   
  
either of them said another word and took their seats only moments before the   
  
match began. This fact did not go unnoticed by their friend Xiomara who winked   
  
up at them before blowing the whistle to start the game. As ever, Poppy spent a   
  
large proportion of the game with her eyes hidden behind her hands. Quiditch   
  
was a violent game at the best of times but Slytherin vs. Gryffindor matches   
  
were always the worst and the caring, healing part of her nature objected to the   
  
senseless injuries. An hour in though, and both teams were on even points, the   
  
snitch was still loose and miracle of miracle no one had needed her expertise.   
  
It seemed Fred and George Weasley were on top form and the Gryffindor chasers   
  
were making another run for the goal hoop when Poppy first noticed the lumbering   
  
figure running as fast as he could towards the stadium.  
  
"Minerva." She whispered, quickly distracting her friend's attention from the   
  
game and subtly gestured for her to look towards the open corner where Hagrid   
  
was now entering.  
  
"Professor!" He called looking directly up at them but loudly enough to draw   
  
everyone's attention. The mediwitch who had taken the end seat in the front row   
  
of their box, stood to let the deputy headmistress past and down the stairs.   
  
She needn't have however as in the blink of an eye her friend transformed into   
  
her feline self and after a quick hop onto the edge of the barrier leapt the ten   
  
feet to the ground and careered across the pitch towards the obviously   
  
distraught grounds man. Poppy shook her head. It was little wonder that   
  
Minerva's joints showed higher degradation than she would have expected the last   
  
time she had dragged her in for her medical. The hush that had overtaken the   
  
students was quickly gone as they all started to whisper amongst themselves. The   
  
professors to began quiet discussion before Serverus Snape stood. She watched   
  
as the potions master looked across the field to where Minerva stood. They   
  
caught each other's eye but what was communicated between them was unknown to   
  
her before he spoke.  
  
"Come." Was all he said before he turned and with cloak billowing behind him   
  
descended the stairs at the back of the stand. After moments the staff followed   
  
Poppy included and as she climbed down the stairs it was all she could do to   
  
hope that the dread growing in her heart was unjustified.  
A/N: thanks for reading now please take a minute to review (not that I'm   
  
desperate or anything *smile*) Linz 


	2. Chapter 2

TIMES OF TRIAL  
  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  
Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.  
  
*****  
  
Harry sighed and brought his hands up to his mouth and blew air through them in   
  
an attempt to ward off the chill December had brought. The snitch was being   
  
more awkward than he thought necessary this morning. He had caught sight of it   
  
on more than one occasion but always just as it sped out ofhis field of vision   
  
but then again this was hardly unusual for his prized catch. What was really   
  
getting on his nerves was the way Malfoy was hanging around on his tail waiting   
  
for him to spot it. Harry couldn't decide if this was because the Slytherin   
  
seeker was just too lazy to do anything else or because he genuinely believed he   
  
could beat his opponent in a race. Well either way Draco was in for a surprise   
  
as he dove from their great height virtually straight towards the ground. He   
  
could see a flash of green and silver behind him as leaned closer into his broom   
  
to gain every ounce of speed he could. Looked like his talent less year mate   
  
had fallen for yet another Wronski feint.  
  
"Harry!" He heard someone call just before a rush of air just past his shoulder   
  
alerted him to a near miss with a bludger and sent him spinning. He managed to   
  
control his broom enough to pull upwards and was rewarded with the sight of   
  
Malfoy looking helplessly around for the snitch. He didn't ponder on it long   
  
though as the Gryffindor chasers broke further away and scored another ten   
  
points for their team. At one hour in they were in the lead and the snitch was   
  
still loose. The usual triumphant roar that met such an event was absent   
  
however. In fact the whole stadium was virtually silent. He rose up into the   
  
air again and looked around. At the other end of the pitch Professor McGonagall   
  
was in discussion with Hagrid who stood with his legs apart, hands on his knees,   
  
breathing hard as if he had run all the way across the grounds. He watched as   
  
his head of house turned and looked up at the teachers box. Following her line   
  
of vision he found himself looking at Snape who too also turned and said   
  
something to his co-workers before disappearing from sight presumably to take   
  
the stairs to ground level. The sound that had been steadily increasing took a   
  
leap as all the Professors in attendance converged on the deputy head mistress.   
  
For an instant Harry had an inexplicable desire that Dumbledore were around, it   
  
wasn't that he didn't trust the others he just somehow felt more secure with the   
  
headmaster near-bye. All of a sudden he realised that all his teammates had   
  
come to an unofficial stop and he wondered at the fact that the Slytherins   
  
weren't making the most of it that was until he noticed that Madame Hooch had   
  
the quaffle firmly under her arm. The beaters on both teams were somewhat   
  
listlessly batting the bludgers between each other but it was clear to see that   
  
their attention was elsewhere. Snape's long strides meant he reached the pair a   
  
while before the others and was soon in deep discussion, if he hadn't known   
  
better he would have said his two professors were concerned about something.   
  
Unconsciously he rubbed his scar as he thought about it. Something was most   
  
definitely up and he didn't like the look of it. The referee flew down and   
  
landed next to Lupin, taking the quaffle with her before they to began to   
  
discuss something. After a few seconds McGonagall and Snape approached the   
  
larger group and the deputy headmistress spoke whilst Hagrid hurried back out of   
  
the stadium. Harry thought of flying overhead to be able to hear what she was   
  
saying but somehow he didn't think that that would go down very well. He   
  
watched, from a distance, as she told them something gesturing once or twice   
  
with her arms. When she stopped speaking there were only a few comments to which   
  
she tersely nodded her head before everyone seemed to be in agreement. He had   
  
half expected her to tell them what was about to happen then, but instead she   
  
and Snape stepped off to one side again. The remaining thirty or so Professors   
  
split into to distinct groups though he wasn't sure how they had been assigned.   
  
Lupin and Hooch stood someway apart from the others as well and it was the games   
  
mistress who pointed her wand at her throat and muttered what he supposed to be   
  
'Soronus', for when she spoke next it was more than loud enough for everyone to   
  
hear. "Attention!" She began though it was hardly necessary, as the previous   
  
silence had returned. "There is a group of death eaters approaching the castle   
  
grounds and they will be upon us soon. There is not time to ensure that you   
  
would all make it safely back to your common rooms so the teachers will do what   
  
they can to protect this area from any attack. Word has already been sent to   
  
the ministry and aurors ad hit wizards are expected to arrive soon." Harry's   
  
blood ran cold. This was it. The real-thing. "Once I have finished speaking   
  
ALL of you will stay exactly where you are or risk being hexed into the next   
  
millennium by myself or Professor Lupin with the exception of the teams," She   
  
continued glancing up at them. "Who will go immediately to their changing rooms   
  
and will not leave before being instructed explicitly to do so by one of the   
  
professors. You will NOT panic but do exactly as you are told." Her brusque   
  
fashion got the message through clearly. Harry headed back down towards the   
  
field but had to wait until he was off the pitch before setting down as his   
  
teachers were spreading out over the pitch. He supposed that he had expected   
  
them to guard the perimeter of the stadium but instead they all faced inwards.   
  
One group formed a ring round the very centre of the field whilst the others   
  
stood perhaps two meters behind, filling the gaps between their colleagues by   
  
forming a lager circle outside of them.  
  
"Come along Harry." Encouraged Lupin as he ushered the Gryffindors into their   
  
changing room. Taking one last look at what was happening outside he saw the   
  
heads of both Gryffindor and Slytherin take up positions in the centre of the   
  
circles. Standing back to back they drew their wands up in front of them, tips   
  
beneath their chins, as if they were about to begin a duel.   
  
"Harry!" He turned and jogged towards his teammates behind him he heard an   
  
incantation rise from the many voices on the field.  
  
"Derivo adfluxum..."  
  
A/N: Hope you liked where this has gone... thanks to everyone who's reviewed your questions should be answered fairly soon. Now hit the little blue button - you know you want to *smile* 


	3. Chapter 3

TIMES OF TRIAL  
  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  
Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.  
  
Q&A: *Dumbledore will appear eventually - promise.  
  
*'Derivo adfluxum' is a very crude trnslation along the lines of 'channels flow'. Lame but I thought it sounded quite cool so...  
  
*****  
  
Hermione glanced at Ron as Madame Hooch stopped speaking. They didn't need to   
  
say anything to know what the other was feeling at that moment. Everyone had   
  
been half expecting something major to happen all term; this wasn't quite what   
  
she had had in mind though. Were they going to be brave enough to walk straight   
  
through the gates of one of the most well protected wizarding sites in the   
  
country? Well if they were, she had to admit that they had picked the perfect   
  
time. Professor Dumbledore was away and virtually every inhabitant of the   
  
school, pupils and teachers were gathered together in one place. Although the   
  
quiditch stadium was not the worst place on the grounds to try and defend it   
  
certainly wasn't the most guarded. She looked around and saw that despite her   
  
fears there was not mass panic in the stands. The older students were doing   
  
what they could to calm those younger than themselves all the while keeping the   
  
noise level down and trying to adhere to the one simple rule laid down to them.  
  
"What in Merlin's name are they doing?" Asked Neville who sat on the other side   
  
of her from Ron. He was looking down at the field and as she followed his gaze   
  
she saw the source of his surprise. Instead of spreading out around the   
  
periphery of the stadium the professors were gathered on the pitch itself. They   
  
were spaced out so that each had more than enough room to manoeuvre their own   
  
wands without clashing and all the positions had a clear view of the centre.  
  
"More importantly," Ron began. "What are THEY doing?" He pointed towards   
  
Professors Snape and McGonagall who still had their heads together in what   
  
seemed to still be in deep discussion. Now however, the astute observer could   
  
see that the Gryffindor had a hand on the Slytherin's arm. Just as Hermione was   
  
about to speak something even more remarkable transpired as Snape looked up and   
  
something resembling the ghost of a smile passed over his features before they   
  
both strode purposefully in the same direction.   
  
"That was just weird." Neville commented. "It just looked so wrong. They were   
  
being almost pleasant to each other. I mean that can't be a good sign...   
  
when...when those two start getting on." His pace and pitch increased rapidly   
  
until he was stuttering beyond comprehension.  
  
"Neville." Hermione said doing her best to sound friendly but with enough   
  
authority that he would listen to her. "I think that both Professor Snape and   
  
Professor McGonagall are old enough and mature enough to put aside house   
  
differences when the situation requires it." She turned to Ron and they shared   
  
a look. They were both very aware of what their potions master had been doing   
  
for the last six months. She returned her gaze to the ground below them and   
  
began to address their housemate's original question. Something about the   
  
pattern of their arrangement... She couldn't help but quietly gasped as several   
  
of the pieces fell into place. They couldn't possibly be trying what she   
  
thought they were. The boys started to speak but she 'shushed' them quickly so   
  
she could hear the incantation that was being uttered by all bar two of the   
  
individuals involved.  
  
"Derivo adfluxum... Derivo adfluxum... Derivo adfluxum..." The chant was   
  
repeated until out of every wand there was a beam of light, or what certainly   
  
looked like light, being thrust towards the unlikely pair in the centre. Each   
  
was a slightly different colour ranging from golds through to blues, the   
  
strongest-looking from those in the outside circle but all converging in the   
  
same area.  
  
"Channel or Conduit magic." She said quietly giving both the names she knew for   
  
what she thought was going on. Her eyes never left the field but she felt their   
  
inquisitive looks. "That's what they're doing. Just watch a minute." Snape   
  
and McGonagall spoke the next part of the incantation and Hermione was more than   
  
a little surprised that they were successful at their first attempt. The   
  
strands of magic started to pulse ever so slightly towards the centre of the   
  
group. "It's old magic and rarely used nowadays because it has a tendency to go   
  
wrong. There are donors and conduits, Snape and McGonagall are being the   
  
conduits here and the others are their donors. It basically allows for a group   
  
of individuals to combine their powers to cast a spell with a strength that   
  
could never be achieved never mind be maintained otherwise."  
  
"Why does it go wrong?" Ron asked the all-important question.  
  
"The conduits, there has to be more than one, have to be totally in control of   
  
what happens. It requires concentration, strength of will and powerful magic of   
  
their own in order to channel the others' power into whatever spell they cast."   
  
Ron was looking grim but Neville just seemed to be in awe. "Depending on the   
  
spell they cast there can also be problems in that the conduits have to work   
  
closely together, they may have to anticipate the others moves and know their   
  
weaknesses." At this Neville's head snapped round to look at her.  
  
"And those two think that they're going to be able to pull it off?!"  
  
"We wont know for sure until they cast their spell after they've let this one   
  
settle a little but I think they might well pull it off."  
  
"I think you're right but they're going to have to get a move on." Ron pointed   
  
out towards the corner that opened out to look on to the gates of the castle   
  
grounds almost half a mile away. In the distance she could make out a swarm of   
  
black clad figures on broomsticks approaching at speed. At alarming speed.   
  
Glancing back down at the pitch she was just in time to catch the moment of   
  
truth. In perfect unison the two conduits, still surrounded by the   
  
multicoloured pulsing strands, spoke an incantation that she couldn't make out.   
  
She watched as they gripped their own wands with both hands extended their arms   
  
downwards before pushing them away. The little doubt she had in their abilities   
  
and their choice of protection withered as she watched the shimmering shell that   
  
had surrounded them both as the spoke the words of what she supposed to be an   
  
incredibly powerful shielding spell, expand at an alarming rate until it   
  
encompassed the entire stadium and all it's inhabitants.  
  
It was a sight to behold, the light show that surrounded them as well as that   
  
upon the field. As she looked upwards Hermione noticed that the shield was in   
  
fact made of two halves though their edges were not identifiable. The energy   
  
that came from her own head of house's side was a warm red and on the other's   
  
side the colour was a cool green. But this was something she would dwell upon   
  
later as her chain of thought was broken by one of the seventh years on the   
  
bleacher in front.  
  
"They're here." She said in quiet recognition of their new predicament. Time   
  
lost all meaning for her then and she suspected she wasn't the only one. She   
  
was aware of most of those around her craning to see what was going on outside   
  
the bubble or trying to shrink back and be the least conspicuous they could.   
  
Hermione's attention was far to transfixed on the magic being performed below   
  
her for anything else to make an impact though. While the others stood strong   
  
and kept their wands pointed towards the collecting point for all their energies   
  
the two professors seemed to remain oblivious to anything that happened inside   
  
the shield. While Madame Hooch flew up to one of the stands that held both   
  
Raveclaws and Slytherins to sort out a looming brawl by muting and freezing all   
  
those involved, they seemed to almost conduct the magic they controlled. The   
  
incredible grace with which they both strengthened those areas that were   
  
attacked with the stronger curses or hexes never both going to the same spot and   
  
never letting anything break through. Bracing themselves against each other she   
  
could tell when they had to put more effort into a move even if she couldn't see   
  
the attacker through the stands. She barely noticed him at first but something   
  
about this black clad figure stood out, whether it was his poise or that the   
  
others seemed to hold him in some regard but she was sure that this was Lucius   
  
Malfoy. He positioned himself on the ground in the corner where he was visible   
  
to them all but still kept at bay by the almost invisible barrier. She turned   
  
back when a flash of emerald highlighted the quick movement of her   
  
Transfiguration professor to support the shield at the corner along from   
  
Malfoy's. She wasn't sure what transpired but when she turned back she saw him   
  
raise his wand and point it at the deputy head. He said something she couldn't   
  
decipher at that distance but instead of the usual slight flash that indicated   
  
that the spell had been repelled or absorbed it broke through without so much as   
  
a blink.  
  
A/N - I may need your help after the next chapter to decide where I should take this so you better keep reading and reviewing... It's just down there and it'll only take a sec *smile*. Hope you enjoyed it and I know I'm evil   
  
Linz 


	4. Chapter 4

TIMES OF TRIAL  
  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  
Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.  
  
A/N: Well, another chapter and another change of POV. Hope this isn't to confusing but if you get lost e-mail me (voyager_obsessive@yahoo.co.uk) and I'll try and clear it up for you. Mucho thanks to my all-new beta GEM hope you can see the difference now that she's had a go at my grammar *smile* I think that's about it for now, but as always - please review.   
  
******  
  
"Hagrid." Minerva said trying to sound friendly while the familiar note   
  
of authority resonated through the single word. "Would you please slow down and   
  
say that all again. I didn't catch a word of it last time." The groundskeeper   
  
was obviously anxious to pass his information on to her but his laboured   
  
breathing and generally worked up state made him impossible to decipher.  
  
"Death Eaters! Flyin' this way, straight at the cast'le they are!" She could   
  
feel herself blanche. This was the news she had been trying to convince herself   
  
wasn't coming her way as she dashed across the field.  
  
"How long?" She asked possibly the most important of all the questions spinning   
  
around her head. Priorities.  
  
"No' tha' long. Maybe five minutes, ten if yer lucky." She turned and looked   
  
up at the professors' box and quickly caught Serverus's eye. He seemed to   
  
understand what she tried to convey with only her eyes as he swept round and   
  
down onto pitch level gesturing for the others to follow.  
  
"How many?" Running through possibilities the Deputy Headmistress was beginning   
  
to feel that they were going to be very limited in their choice of actions.   
  
"For'ay or so best guess."  
  
"Damn." She said quietly. Not one to cuss usually this was a sign that she was   
  
getting worked up. She took a calming breath before Snape arrived and he was   
  
filled in.  
  
"I take it you didn't know about..." She trailed off as he shook his head. At   
  
one point she would have never trusted his word but now she knew him far better   
  
than that. In any case there would be time for that discussion later.  
  
"We'll never get the students all back into the castle and in their common rooms   
  
before they get here." He said quietly echoing her earlier thoughts.  
  
"So we'll have to defend them here."  
  
"We're out-numbered, if it comes to hand to hand combat." He countered as they   
  
bounced ideas and observations off of one another.  
  
"And there's bound to be casualties even if we get the older students to help."  
  
"What we need is a shield. A charm large enough to protect the entire stadium."   
  
She snapped her head up at him only to find his eyes widening as well.  
  
"Are you thinking what I am?" She asked cryptically. Could they really pull   
  
this off?  
  
"There are enough of us." He replied. "Though I think we would have to take   
  
centre stage." She nodded her agreement.  
  
"It's the only way." She told him reassuring herself, as well as her colleague.   
  
He nodded again. "Hagrid. I need you to go up to the castle. You should be   
  
able to get in through the kitchen door easily enough. Ask the house-elves to   
  
baton down the hatches then I need you to send owls to Professor Dumbledore and   
  
the Ministry telling them what's happening and asking for their immediate   
  
assistance."   
  
"Yes Professor." He said and she noted the look of pride in his eyes. "And   
  
good luck ter ye'"  
  
"Thank you." She replied and turned to her other colleagues who instantly paid   
  
attention. Telling them what she knew didn't take long and thankfully nobody   
  
objected to the planned course of action when she told them, or at least no one   
  
spoke out against it.  
  
"MG?" The games' mistress asked once she was done. "How about a couple of us   
  
stay out, keep an eye on the students. You know?" She should have thought of   
  
that. Lupin volunteered to stay with Xiomara so that was that.  
  
"I would suggest that those who teach wand based principles form the outer ring   
  
as that'll help balance the flow of energy." Suggested Flitwick who was the   
  
charms teacher after all. Again she agreed and soon they were all away   
  
preparing themselves, or in Xi and Remus's case, the pupils. It didn't take   
  
long for the two of them to pick the shielding charm they would use. She knew   
  
it and had used it in the past but it was notoriously difficult to maintain when   
  
used to protect more than one person. She took a moment to close her eyes and   
  
start to focus.  
  
"Minerva?" His voice was quiet and missing its usual acerbic edge.  
  
"Yes?" She turned to see him looking at the ground. When he did look up she   
  
saw a rare unguarded reflection through his eyes.  
  
"This will work, won't it?"  
  
"It had better." She told him placing what she hoped would be a re-assuring   
  
hand on his arm.  
  
"Ever the ridiculously brave and optimistic Gryffindor." He scoffed but she   
  
knew that he didn't mean it harshly.  
  
"And I would never suggest that you are anything but the finest example of a   
  
sly, calculating Slytherin?" She asked the corner of her mouth twitching   
  
upwards. This had its desired affect as he flashed her an even more rare smile.  
  
"We better get going." He said as they both switched back to the previous   
  
seriousness.  
  
Minerva was almost knocked over as the initial threads of energy connected   
  
with them but it was comforting to feel Serverus use her as an anchor as they   
  
both leaned back ever so slightly. She was the one to count to three when they   
  
both called "Conducto." After which she was filled with the most amazing sense   
  
of power. It was as if every cell in her body was vibrating with the energy of   
  
it all. But after that it was much harder to differentiate between who did or   
  
thought what. She knew it was necessary for the conduits in this form of magic   
  
to be able to communicate closely but she hadn't expected this kind of   
  
connection. With her eyes closed she could still see all around her. But it   
  
wasn't just all around her; it was all around them. They waited for a few   
  
precious moments feeling the flow even out until it had hit something close to a   
  
constant. Then without hesitation or consultation they both spoke again.   
  
"Incommendatus ancilious." She felt the tug of the shield on her energy reserve   
  
and she concentrated on channelling the incoming power to the outgoing drain.   
  
Then they pushed. She could feel the resistance of the magic but they kept on   
  
going until all of a sudden she seemed to know that they had gone far enough.   
  
All she was aware of was the man behind her, with her, and the barrier. It   
  
wasn't long before she felt something pushing back, then something else. Behind   
  
closed lids she could see the pulsing of the energy around her, she could see   
  
the entire perimeter and those who were firing curses and hexes at their   
  
handiwork. They were unorganised, un-regimented. One would fire a particularly   
  
strong curse and she would simply move her hand in their direction increasing   
  
the flow of energy in that direction. It was as if it was all happening in slow   
  
motion This went on for a time, though she wasn't sure how long, and she   
  
quickly learned what incantations the shield could deal with without   
  
reinforcement and which required her entire concentration. Suddenly there was a   
  
flurry of activity to one side, keeping her feet planted firmly where they were,   
  
she twisted her upperbody to meet the attack. As the charm was hit by a series   
  
of strong curses Minerva tried to identify them, for no discernible reason, but   
  
she thought that both the Cruciatus curse and Avada Kedavra were amongst them.   
  
This was different. A co-ordinated attack on a small area. She couldn't dwell   
  
on that as she put all her effort into preventing any of them breaking through.   
  
She felt Serverus's support as she made sure that there were no other   
  
unforgivables about to be thrown in from another direction. Then there was a   
  
tug; something was pulling at her wand. She tried to grasp it tighter but she   
  
knew that she wasn't going to win. She had to make a decision. She couldn't   
  
fight both these battles at once and Serverus was being kept occupied from the   
  
other side. Her decision was made for her when there was another fierce tug and   
  
her wand flew out of her hand the force pulling her to her knees. For an   
  
instant everything returned to normal. She could hear the clamour of the   
  
students and the bright light of the sky almost blinded her but she was still in   
  
control. She could still feel the flow of energy through her. Keeping her   
  
hands directed at the area that was still being attacked she pushed herself back   
  
up on to her feet. Steadying herself against Snapes' back, she closed her eyes   
  
and once more was thrust back into her role. It took everything in her power to   
  
stay in control, to not get carried away. She spread her attention as well as   
  
she could around the perimeter as their attack seemed to solidify and they   
  
became a cohesive fighting unit. Just as she felt that she was about to loose   
  
her hold of the situation the pushing began to falter. After what must have   
  
been a moment or two they became aware of something closer. She couldn't focus   
  
on it but...  
  
"...arrived...they've been taken care of. Dumbledore.... just a few more   
  
minutes...make sure ...all gone." Lupin. It was Remus. Just a few more   
  
minutes. She was fairly certain that these weren't her own thoughts but she   
  
couldn't be sure. She could barely maintain the initial energy output to ensure   
  
the shield stayed in place as she put her all behind it preventing it from   
  
shrinking back. Then it was collapsing. Not in a manic fashion though, they   
  
were drawing it in carefully. Serverus was ending it. There was a short surge   
  
of energy before the quiet buzz she had become accustomed to disappeared.   
  
Slowly she opened her eyes and managed to identify Albus among the auroras   
  
before the world began to swim in front of her. 


	5. Chapter 5

TIMES OF TRIAL

Disclaimer:  None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me.  They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.

Summery:  This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts.  It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however.  The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

A/N:  Woohoo!  I have (eventually) managed to get another chapter completed and this one is a little longer than the others *smile*.  Thanks again to GEM and yet again, more requests for reviews.  I also want to plug my other on going fic (Hidden Truths) for those of you who haven't r&r-ed.

******

            Remus' relief was almost palpable when he saw the aurors arriving on the castle grounds along with the Headmaster.  It had been almost quarter of an hour since the Death eaters had begun their attack on the shield that the staff had managed to erect. He had watched them all as they concentrated on their conduits, arms and wands pointing directly at the pair in the centre both of whom seemed oblivious to everything else inside their protection.  From the very beginning their interaction had been incredible, almost as if they were each reading the others mind making sure that their efforts reaped maximum benefit.  The students had been behaving for the most part, and the noise level had been minimal, at least until Minerva had lost her wand.  Remus wasn't sure what had happened to her wand. He just caught sight of it flying through the air and out through the shield.  It hadn't been designed to keep things in and now it was beyond any of their reach.  For an instant he thought the worst, but then she rocked back onto her heels and closed her eyes again, and succeeded in regaining her control.  It was taxing though, he could see that even from a distance.  Then the cavalry arrived, and had effectively taken out most of the opposition.  Remus noticed however, that a large proportion had taken to the sky, and escaped, but he knew that there had to be priorities.  As the fighting began to ebb he ran over to the gap in the corner closest to the castle, where he saw Albus standing it look as though he was trying to get Lupin's attention.

"Professor?"  He asked through the barrier, the slight shimmer it created along with the low winter sun lending the older man an even more ethereal look than usual.

"Remus.  Is everyone all right?  We came as soon as we heard from you but Hagrid only gave us the basics."

"I don't think there have been any casualties, but I think you have Minerva and Serverus to thank for that."  Dumbledore nodded. 

"I have the upmost pride in how you have al acted today, but we haven't finished quite yet.  Do you think you could ask them to hold on for just a little longer?  Alastor wants to try and make sure that they've caught the last of them and they haven't left any unpleasant surprises.  Just a few more minutes."

"I'll pass on the request." He told him not entirely sure that they were going to be able to hold the stability of the shield for much longer.  The look of concentration on Minerva McGonagall's face as he approached, winding his way through the beams of light that still crossed the pitch, was that of a true Gryffindor, and only served to reaffirm this belief.  He soon realised that if anyone was going to be able to acknowledge him even if they could hear, it would be Serverus.

"Help's arrived.  The death eaters have been… well they've been taken care of.  Dumbledore wanted me to ask you to hang on just a few more minutes.  Moody and the others just want to make sure that they really have all gone."  He looked to Snape's face for any sign that he had understood.  His eyes were still closed and, though his hands had stopped their constant movement, he still seemed to have to concentrate to maintain the charm.  After a second he gave a terse jerk of his head, which Remus took as meaning he had understood.  The students were beginning to grow restless again and he spent the next few minutes ensuring that he was close enough to the stands that no one would try anything too drastic.  He was watching the aurors confer about something when he noticed that the bubble was closing in on them.  Dumbledore seemed to have noticed too and when Remus looked to him he simply nodded.  There was no point in interfering now.  

The feeling when the barrier passed through him was most unusual, making his skin tingle with excess energy.  The level of commotion in the stands increased again as (all) the lights disappeared.  It was only then that he realised just quite the toll the process had taken on all those involved.  Around the pitch many of the Professors had sat down where they had stood and even those who weren't looked like they were in need of a good fortnights sleep.  Again he headed straight for the centre seeing that neither of the two heads of house had moved or opened their eyes yet.  He was just in time to see Minerva do just that, her gaze quickly surveyed her surroundings and then picked out Albus.  If the moment had been right he would have allowed himself a slight chuckle at that, but before he would have had a chance he saw her reel slightly and her knees give way beneath her.  Reaching out he placed a hand on her shoulder griping just tightly enough so that she didn't fall any farther.  He was more than surprised however when he ended up staring at someone who had taken up exactly the same position on her other side. The other mans reactions must have lightening quick as the moment before he had been standing behind her.  Lupin looked into Serverus Snape's obsidian eyes and seemed trapped there for a moment before he brought his attention rapidly back to the woman they both held.

"Minerva?"  He asked cautiously.  He bent down to see that she was blinking as if to bring the world back into focus.  He crouched down as she continued to stare into the middle distance.  She blinked a few more times and then nodded slowly.  Remus wasn't convinced but decided not to comment on the fact that she looked like death warmed over.

"Thank you." She said quietly as using the two of them as leverage pulled herself upright again.

"Minerva?  Serverus?"  This time the younger man did allow himself a small smile at Albus's words as he approached hurriedly.  "And would you sit down before you fall woman?!"  He continued when he came to a stop.

"I am not about to keel over Albus."  She told him wrenching her arms away from her supports, lifting her chin and straightening her shoulders, moulding herself into that indomitable Professor that was so well known to the students.

"So you're perfectly fine then?"  He asked gently his eyes twinkling a little.

"Yes."  She replied adamantly.  Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.  "Ok, fine, well I'm not perfect.  If we're being honest I'm absolutely shattered but I hardly think that singles me out here do you?"  She continued gesturing vehemently to the rest of the staff.  "In any case.  We should be getting the students inside.  We should seal them in their common rooms until we have a chance to search the castle and the grounds properly."

"Look.  Please Tabby, just humour me?  Professor Lupin and Professor Vectra, would be more than willing to take your charges…" Up until this point, Serverus had been standing off to one side scowling at the ground and pretending to ignore the raging argument between their superiors.  Despite the impression he gave off most of the time Remus knew that he did care deeply about his Slytherins.  His head shot up and his mouth opened but he didn't get a chance to say anything.

"Precisely Albus! – 'Our charges'!  They are our responsibility and we need to ensure their safety.  No offence meant of course Remus."   She added as an afterthought.  He nodded quietly too sensible to either be hurt by her comment or to get drawn in to the debate.

"Just let Poppy take a look…"

"No!"  With that she stalked over to where Xiomara Hooch was standing and began discussing something in earnest.

"Oh well.  In all honesty I think I would have been more worried if she had let me win."  The headmaster told them shaking his head a little.  The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor had been around long enough to see through Dumbledore's light comments he knew that he was still worried about her.  "Well, she's right on one point – we ought to be getting the students into safety.  I'll come with you Serverus.  I think there are a few things that we need to discuss.  If you would be so kind as to try and locate Minerva's wand an return it to her I think she would be most grateful Remus."

"Of course Professor."  He said and turned towards the corner of the stadium.  He had been looking for five minutes during which the stadium had been systematically emptied before it occurred to him that there was an easier way.

"Accio Professor Minerva McGonagall's wand."   Sure enough her wand came flying towards him from a patch of long grass not too far away.  Catching it he turned and headed back up to the castle.

"Oh for Merlin's sake."  Remus sighed trying not to loose his temper with the young auror who was baring his way into the castle.

"I'm sorry _Professor, _I'm just following orders and not taking any risks so unless you have some way of proving that you do in fact teach here at the school then I'm not going to let you past."  The most irritating thing about the situation was that he agreed with guys' logic and wasn't surprised that his half-hearted arguments over the last few minutes had not been successful.  He was just about to give up for the time being when Alistair Moody who had taken charge of the Ministry officials came up to the door his clawed foot clumping onto the hard floor, the sound echoing around the entrance hall.

"What's going on here Greenwood?  Lupin?"  

"He's claiming to be Hogwart's DADA professor but he has no way of…" He didn't a chance to finish as his superior cut in.

"Good work, but in this case you were wrong.  This is in fact Remus Lupin, Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.  In you come lad."  He said gesturing for him to come passed.

"Thanks."  He said before rushing past him and taking the stairs up to the Gryffindor tower at a run.  Luckily the staircases were cooperating with his efforts at speed and were in the correct places to allow him to take the shortest route to his destination.  He reached the portrait of the fat lady only slightly out of breath and it was a good thing, because when he remembered the password (let sleeping lions lie) and entered the room he was met by a scene roughly approximating chaos.

"Professor…!"

"Thank Merlin…!"

"…fire…collapsed…!"

"… sealed shut.  No way out…"

"…DEAD…"


	6. Chapter 6

TIMES OF TRIAL

Disclaimer:  None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me.  They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.

Summery:  This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts.  It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however.  The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

A/N:  Well here it is, the latest chapter!  Thanks to all of you who have reviewed and to Gem for giving this the once over for me *smile*.  If it makes sense then the credit is all hers.

*****

Ron didn't know where to look first.   There was activity all around even though the fighting had all but died out a few minutes ago.   If he leaned forward and peered out the open gap at the end of their-own stand he could see Alastor Mad-eye Moody co-ordinating the other aurors.  Some were rounding up the unconscious Death Eaters who had been abandoned by their comrades and the rest were still sweeping across the grounds presumably securing the area but he really couldn't be sure.  Hermione was still watching the pitch avidly and felt the need to jab both Neville and himself when Madame Hooch began to speak again.

"Students!"  She called and it was only then he noticed the commotion that had had begun to spread throughout the crowd.  When she was successful a few moments later she told them what Ron already suspected, in that the situation had been brought under control and that no doubt they would soon be returning to the castle.  As she finished there was another upsurge in the volume but this time it was accompanied by points and gestures towards their shield, which had slowly begun to shrink back inwards.  The excitement grew as the charm contracted enough to come in contact with those sitting at the back of the stands but passed through them unremarkably.  At least that's how it appeared.  The reality was something far more intense as he discovered as the magic surged through his own body leaving him feeling momentarily charged and with a longer lasting sense of comfort and peace.   Ron turned his attention again in time to see Dumbledore finish, somewhat abruptly it looked, his conversation with Moody and begin to walk across the pitch.  He was following the headmaster with his eyes when he heard Hermione squeal somewhat uncharacteristically.  He looked to see what she was staring at just in time to see Snape whirl around in a blur of black cloth and grasp McGonagall's shoulder as she fell.

            The three Gryffindors sat in silence, Hermione with a hand at her mouth and Neville leaning forward as if he were going to be able to catch what they were saying.  Ron had relaxed substantially when he saw that Professor McGonagall had pulled herself upright and quite obviously begun a heated debate with Dumbledore. However he refrained from trying to convince the other two to relent from their 'vigil' until she stormed across the grass and began to talk with Madame Hooch.

"She'll be fine.  Dumbledore wouldn't have let her just walk away like that if he didn't think so."  He tried with reasonable success.

"I suppose."  Neville agreed, immediately looking brighter.  Hermione didn't say anything but did take her hand down and pretended to be looking for someone else in the crowd.  It was only a few minutes later that Hooch was again speaking to them but this time with distinct instructions on how they were to leave the grounds.  The Hufflepuffs were called first and arranged into a group that either subconsciously or specifically resulted in the younger ones being surrounded by the older, before being led back towards the castle by Professor Sprout and a number of aurors.  Then went the Ravenclaws and then the Gryffindors began to file out of the stands.  When they reached the ground they were met enthusiastically by the quiditch team, or more specifically the twins and Harry, who it seemed had seen nothing of what had transpired since they had been ushered into the changing rooms.  The trip back to Gryffindor Tower was spent giving a detailed, action packed (thanks to Ron and Lee Jordan) and factual (Hermione's input) account of what had happened.  

Whether it was by coincidence or action, Ron was aware that the trip up to the tower entrance was speed along by rather fortunate positioning of the staircases.  He didn't take long to ponder over this however as soon he was drawn back into the conversation that now centred over whether, as Neville had described, their teacher had 'swooned' or as Hermione protested 'reeled' before being caught by the two men.  The train of Gryffindors reached their destination then however, and the topic of conversation switched to the identity of those who had been apprehended.

"I'm pretty sure I saw Malfoy get away."  He told them remembering the aristocratic poise of the wizard or witch who had managed puncture the shield, how they had seemed to command authority over the others and had fled at the first sign of trouble.  The tension was obviously lifting as they all pilled into the common room and once again the volume of discussion intensified as they waited for McGonagall to finish speaking to the Fat Lady.  Ron took the time to look around the room and take in all the various groups of various ages all talking vociferously on similar topics.  After a few moments of watching the drama unfold in front of him the Professor walked into the centre of the room and with her back to the fire, began to speak.

"Students!"  She called and instantly there was silence.  Ron had to admire that ability after watching Hooch's attempts to achieve the same results earlier.  They all shuffled around a little so that they could see their head of house.  Ron, Hermione, Harry and the others they had walked with ended up with prime positions just to the right of the hearth.

"Thank you."  She continued.  "Now I want you all to know that we are all very appreciative of your behaviour thus far today but I must ask for that to continue for a little longer.  It is imperative that we establish the security of both the grounds and the castle itself and until such a time as that has been achieved you will be required to stay in the tower, no matter what.  The Fat Lady will ensure that no one who does not posses appropriate Professor's access clearance will leave the portrait hole.  However if you need to get in touch with myself, or any of the other Professors then you may send an owl, I believe that the are being sent down from the owlery presently, and I will of course be checking in on you periodically."  She was being far more open with them than was usual and this unnerved Ron somewhat but on the other hand he supposed it was hardly surprising she was a little out of character after a day like today.  He couldn't help but reconsider his earlier conclusion about her sate of (well being) and Dumbledore's decision to let her go though. 

"The House elves will see to your need in the meantime.  They should be arriving shortly with tea and biscuits but until then to keep you warm…" She turned to face the grate.  "_Incendio."  _Throwing both her hands in front of her she sent a fireball slamming into the previously empty grate.  However, instead of resulting in the usual steady blaze, the fire leaped up sending flames lapping at the mantel.  The students took a step back many smiling and laughing at the over exuberant spell.

"Still a little buzzed there Prof…." Began one of the twins, Ron was fairly certain it was Fred but could never be entirely sure, but he stopped as did every other noise in the room as all eyes turned to see their Professor crumple to the floor.

            The next few moments didn't pass in slow motion for Ron exactly but more in freeze-frames.  They were all just standing there, and then all of a sudden his brothers were kneeling next to the form on the floor.  George was feeling first her wrist then her neck, in search of a pulse as Fred held first his back of his hand then a cheek above her mouth to see if he could feel her breathing.  Ron new instinctively that they would not find a pulse from the look on his twin brothers' faces he was correct. The twins exchanged quick glances before rearranging their Professor and themselves on the floor.

"We need to get help.  We need to get her out of here.  Now."   Fred said aloud to the room looking specifically toward his fellow seventh years.

  Lee Jordan and one of the other girls were the first to snap out of the daze and suddenly took charge of the rest of them.

"Fourth years and under" The quiditch commentator called.  "Dorms.  Now."  And they went, or at least most of them did.  Then Hermione was leaning past him to say something to Harry.

"Hedwig!"  And it clicked with him that the snowy was one of the few owls that preferred to stay near her master and was often to be found in their dorm.  His friend nodded and bolted up the stairs.  The remaining students had split into groups, one was already over at the portrait hole trying to lift the charm that had sealed it and another was standing at the hearth obviously trying to coax the fireplace into opening a floo connection.  Hermione quickly joined the group at the door.   The sound of a shutter clicking brought Ron back to real time with a thump.  He automatically looked to the stairway up to the boys' dorm just in time to see Colin Creevey's head disappear back behind the corner.  He made his way swiftly over to that side of the room.  The anger bubbling up inside him was probably a result of many other emotions that he had experienced already that day and he tried his hardest not to inflict them all on the forth year.

"Go.  Now."  Was all he said but his low tone and expression left the younger boy in no doubt of what his options were.  He turned tail and scampered up the stairs.  Ron glanced up the well and saw that Semus, Dean and Neville had all stationed themselves on the different landings and looked like they had no intention of letting anybody else past.

"No sign of Hedwig but Harry's checking to see if any of the other owls are around."  Semus told him and he nodded before turning around.  

"Is she…"? It was Neville's call from several landings up that stopped him.

"I don't know."  Was all he said trying to keep the bubble of fear that had been threatening to erupt from climbing any further in his chest.  He walked back into the common room and his attention immediately fell back upon Fred and George in the centre of the floor.

"I still can't find a pulse."  George told his twin as he removed his fingers from their professor's neck.  "And still no sign of her breathing."  Fred added glancing at the mirror he had acquired from somewhere and was holding above her face.  They both nodded, oblivious to those around them, and positioned themselves in a formation that Ron had first seen in their living room at home.  The summer before they had gone to Hogwarts George had fallen from a tree and had for a time, stopped breathing.  After this event they had decided that neither of them ever wanted to be in a position again that they couldn't help the other should they need it.  So they had taught themselves Muggle resuscitation techniques.   But now instead of one of Ginny's dolls, enlarged solely for the purpose of their learning, lay one of the people Ron respected most.  She looked so… so fragile there.  So unlike herself, immaculate hair fallen from it's place, clothes pulled hastily parted in order that George be ably to find the correct position to place the heel of his hands.  He was fairly certain that had the situation been different both he and others would have would have taken the time to comment on the perfect rhythm that they had quickly fallen into.  Breathe.  Five compressions.  Repeat 15 times then stop, check for a pulse and signs of voluntary respiration before swapping places before beginning again.  Ron desperately wanted to do something to help but was aware that he was probably better out of the way.  Dotted around the room there were students who simply couldn't seem to take their eyes of the scene in front of them.  At one point some of the first year girls obviously ventured down to the stairs but the first he heard of it was a squeal accompanied by a couple of sobs but then Lavender appeared to usher them back up to their dorm.  It must have been a little over five minutes when a commotion next to the door alerted them to the fact something was happening.  Heading across the room Ron realised that Harry was beside him and must have been for some time.  Someone had obviously opened the portrait hole from outside and was now being faced with a barrage of words probably entirely incomprehensible.  They stopped half way across the room when they saw who was standing there.  Professor Lupin stood with his hands raised trying to get them all to calm down, probably so that he could ascertain what had happened but he looked up and obviously saw over their heads all he needed to.  Totally uncharacteristically he pushed through the throng paying little heed to those he had to get past.

"Oh Merlin."  He said quietly as he threw himself onto the floor beside the twins.  Looking up he caught sight of one of the sixth years.  "Sonia.  Madame Pomfry."  With a whirl the girl was gone.  "Angelina you go to."  The chaser nodded quickly and with her quiditch robes billowing behind her she followed her friend out. Then he turned to face them.

"Go find Professor Dumbledore.  He'll want to know… He ought to still be with Professor Snape.  Try the dungeons."  They were on the move before he had finished.  Ron was only glad that the crowd had dispersed from around the portrait hole allowing them clear access.  He could only assume that someone had prevented the door from closing after Lupin's entrance.  Unfortunately, when they got outside they came to a dead halt.  The staircases below them were in complete disarray.

"Damn.  Which way?"  Harry asked looking from side to side.  He thought for a moment.

"It depends.  Should be that way."  He said pointing right.  "But only if the main stair hasn't shifted from earlier."  His companion blew through his nose.

"Tell you what.  I'll go that way and you head back inside and get the map from the top drawer of my bedside cabinet."  Ron nodded wondering why he hadn't thought of that before.  He pivoted and headed straight back into the common room, which was once again eerily quiet.  They only sound that broke through an impassioned cry of '_animo vigoris'._

Review!Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! (please?)  *smile*__


	7. Chapter 7

TIMES OF TRIAL

Disclaimer:  None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me.  They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.

Summery:  This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts.  It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however.  The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

A/N:  I do apologise for keeping you waiting so long but I kind of got confussled about what I had posted, what my beta (GEM) hand corrected and what I was writing.  I'm going to blame it all on the fact that I've been trying to figure out an ending for thins.  Whether I've been successful or not you'll have to wait and see.  If you do have any questions feel free to let me know *smile*  I think that's it…

*****

            Albus watched her retreat for a moment before he spoke.

"Oh well.  In all honesty I think I would have been more worried if she had let me win."  And to an extent this was true.  The day that Minerva McGonagall conceded to do anything she didn't want to without a bloody good argument, and a better reason, was the day that he would really start to worry about her.  Unfortunately that said, he still had little explanation for the unease that lingered with him but he chose to blame it on the recent breach in the school's security.  After he had spoken briefly to both Serverus and Remus he headed over to where Alastor was standing, overseeing the escorting of the separate houses and their heads back to the castle.  He received a nod in acknowledgement of his arrival as his old friend finished separating his men into four separate groups.

"Think you're going to be alright."  He told him matter of factly.  "But we're still on guard.  You were lucky that wasn't exactly the most typical of Death Eater attacks."  Dumbledore tore his gaze from the distance and looked directly at Moody.

"You are sure that they were Death Eaters then?"  He nodded again.

"Despite their somewhat unusual tactics.  The ones we managed to apprehend have His mark branded on their arms.  A couple are even 'repeat offenders'."  This time it was Albus who nodded but more slowly.  "Don't get me wrong, your lucky that it wasn't far worse than it was.  My respect for Snape has gone up significantly.  That was quite some stunt they pulled off."

"That is not a topic you will find any argument on here.  They're both rather remarkable." Albus agreed with a smile.  He was certainly proud of them.

"I sometimes forget quite how much of a punch your Minerva packs." Alastor admitted.  Albus certainly couldn't deny that and just chuckled at his friend.

"Baring that fact in mind you might not want to refer to her as _anybody's_ Minerva within hearing distance."  

"I don't know, it's been a while since we flexed our duelling muscles against each other."

"Only because you lost last time."

"Well considering she's just proved herself quite capable of managing even after she's been disarmed…  That's one powerful woman."  The light-hearted air that had taken over the conversation a moment before had gone.

"It's not unusual for animagus to be more competent at wandless magic Alastor – it stands to sense."

"Sure but they don't tend to do it while pulling of a stunt like the one those two pulled off today.  In any case, we have a lot to be thankful for."

"Hmmm."  Albus agreed.  "And if we're lucky this might even prove to boot Cornelius Fudge into the present century and into admitting we have a problem."

"And wonders will never cease."  The auror scoffed.  "I had better be getting inside the castle.  Majority of the students and all that."  And with this he set off up the slope, tagging onto the end of the Gryffindor procession.

            Albus couldn't be sure whether Alastor was generally mellowing with old age, back into the carefree student he had once know, or whether it was just genuine respect that had urged him to pay the two younger members of his staff these compliments.  It had certainly been a long time since he had heard him say anything similar.  With this thought he turned and saw that the Slytherins were already on their way back to the castle but instead of the main entrance they were converging on a much smaller door that led directly into the dungeons.  His long stride helped him cover the ground reasonably quickly and he followed the last auror down into the dark.  He hadn't noticed how cold it had become until he thought of this area of the school as being pleasantly warm.  As the last of the students filed into the common room the aurors broke off and headed back outside.  He smiled at them all as they gave him varying degrees of reverential nods as they hurried past.  They all looked so young.  Before he could walk too far down that path however he heard Serverus begin to speak to his charges.

"You will stay here until you are told explicitly to do otherwise.  If you must contact me you may use an owl.  There are windows in the seventh year dormitories.  I trust you will all behave impeccably or be willing to face the consequences."  Short and to the point as ever.  Well he could never accuse him of wasting either words or time.  The Potions Master swept back into the corridor and turned, waiting for it to close.  Once it had he placed his wand at the four corners of the door and Albus leaned in to hear the incantation that he spoke but failed to make it out.

Without looking toward him, Albus began to follow Snape who was on the move again as soon as he was done.  Down the corridor, around a bend, through his classroom and into his study and yet it wasn't until they were both seated that the silence was broken.

"I didn't know."  Was Serverus's abrupt statement as he stood again and began to pace.  

Pulling the paper bag from his pocket Dumbledore proffered it to the other man.

"Lemon Drop?"  He asked taking one for himself.  He received only a scowl in reply.  Sometimes it amused him how much that the current heads of Gryffindor and Slytherin had in common.  Both scorned his obsession with muggle sweets and neither could stand still when frustrated.  "You're going to wear a hole in the carpet."

"There isn't any carpet."

"Oh well then I guess that isn't a problem."  He replied smiling.  "You need not doubt that I question your loyalty Serverus."  The other man paused, then threw himself back down into his seat. 

"I don't know how I'm going to explain this."  He said head in hands.

"This?  You mean your actions during the attack?"  He nodded.  "Well, if you have heard no mention of any such action at any recent meeting?"

"No, nothing of the sort."

"And you've received no sign that you are being eased out of the inner circle?"  Another reply in the negative.  "In that case I think you acted the only way you could.  To do anything else would have created the greatest suspicion on my part and then you would have lost not only my confidence but any chance of you learning anything useful."  Snape nodded and the shared another moment of silence.

"This wasn't by his doing."  

"You think not?"  Albus asked him.

"No.  He wants to stay anonymous for the time being.  He didn't want overt action taken.  No, this smacks of Lucius."  The headmaster raised and eyebrow at this and would have questioned him further if he had not been distracted by the small cough of his companion obviously designed to cover up a chuckle.

"Something you find amusing?"  The younger straightened out his face.

"I do believe that Minerva may have just singed the Gryffindor common room carpet."  In his limited experience of the kind of conduit magic that they had performed earlier, it was not unusual for the participants to continue to be 'aware of each others minds' or linked in some way for hours and even days after the spell was cast, so this insight didn't come as a great surprise.

"Dear me.  That would not go down well, and I fear she is in a rather bad mood with me already."  But as he talked the sparkle that had stayed alight in the Slytherins eyes was extinguished and his forehead crinkled with what was either concentration or anguish.

"Serverus?  Is something the matter?"

"No.  I'm not sure.  Maybe."  He closed his eyes and seemed to try and focus on something, as if he was trying to remember a fact just on the tip of his tongue.   "She was lighting the fire, in the common room, and she cast the charm with a little more power than was perhaps necessary.  It wasn't too horrific though.  But then…I just couldn't feel her anymore."

"The bond you created was only ever going to be temporary."  Albus reminded him trying to round down on his own sense of fear that was swelling rapidly.

"You're right."  He conceded making a rather vain attempt to get back into his usual cynical air.  Again they sat in silence.  Neither one sure what to say but just as Dumbledore began to formulate his next utterance Serverus beat him to it.  Standing the young man swept in an ark towards the doorway.

"Go to her."  He said as he paused for a second before leaving the room.

"Serverus?"  Albus called standing also but not following him out.  There was no reply.  He knew that the other man was no sentimentalist.  He did not trust in the more lax forms of magic and would certainly never pander to instinct.  And yet…  

He was on the move even before these thoughts were fully processed and with an energy that was not natural for someone of his age.  The journey from dungeon to tower would take at least five minutes at his top speed and that was with the staircases fully co-operating, which they certainly were not.  He did not spare this a thought however but wound his way through the castle trying to remember all of the shortcuts he had learned over the years.  He was slowing in order that he could make the turn up to a narrow flight of stairs when he heard his name being called.  Looking up to the top of the stairs he saw Harry Potter leaning on the banister beckoning him up.

"You…we need…. Professor McGonagall…" Was all he had managed by the time that the Headmaster had reached his side.  Albus nodded and the boy seemed to understand as he led the way from which he had come.  Before long they were standing at the still open portrait hole.  He did not want to think what had occurred that would lead to this complete breach of security.  It didn't take him long to take in the scene that greeted him as in his heart of hearts he knew at least in essence what it was that he would see.  The older students stood around the edges of the room in tight knit groups, occasionally sharing whispers but seeming so imposed upon by events that even their breathing was hushed.   Fred and George still knelt on the floor before the fire in the hearth but it was only Minerva that Albus saw as Remus Lupin pointed his wand at her chest and obviously not for the first time called  '_Animo Vigoris'.  _ Her body jolted as if shocked by electricity but as the twins checked her once again it seemed that she was as lifeless as ever.  Again Albus acted without thinking and before either Wesley had the chance to fill her lungs more than once.

"_Animo Vigoris._"  He threw all his power behind the words.  His love, his fear, and his anger at what he saw all serving to amplify the effects the incantation wrought.  Her body arched up off the floor to the extent she seemed, for a moment, to levitate.  A fraction of a moment later however she fell back to the floor with an unhealthy thunk.  The unearthly silence that had filled the room since before the Headmaster's arrival was shattered in the next instant though.  It seemed to Albus as if an almighty battle raged within her to decide whether it was more imperative that she expel the toxic carbon dioxide that had built up within her lungs or to fill them with oxygen, in any case the result left her coughing and spluttering.  The next thing he knew he was by her side and kneeling there he watched her take her first breath.  He found himself staring into deep blue pools and smiling down at her, brushed a loose curl away from her face but even as he did her eyes began to roll back and with a flutter closed once more.  

"Out of the way!"  He turned at the sound of Poppy's voice as she bustled into the room.  "What in Merlin's name….?"  She asked as she took in the scene, then moving towards pushed him out of the way.

It seemed like hours had passed to Albus as he sat, still as a statue at the end of the main ward of the hospital wing.  In actual fact it had only been a little over one hour since he had left Remus in charge of the rather shaken up Gryffindors and followed the mediwitch and her charge through what was once more an eerily quiet school.  He had spoken to Alastor, who had assured him that despite the rather enormous breach in security procedures in the Gryffindor tower that he was fairly certain that they were in no further danger.  He knew that he needed to speak with Fudge about what had happened but he also knew that he was certainly not going to be able to concentrate enough to make it a worthwhile process until he had at least heard Minerva's prognoses.  As if on cue, Poppy Pomfry slid out of a room at the end of the ward and silently closed the door.  He stood and made his way to where the mediwitch stood.  He didn't need to say anything before she told him what he had been so anxious to hear.

"She's stable."  It was more of sigh than a statement and certainly didn't hold any note of victory.  "She shouldn't be.   She ought to be, she was, dead."  The other woman put a hand to her forehead and rubbed it lightly.  Dumbledore could see the toll that treating her friend had obviously wrought on the other woman, there was only so far that professional detachment could take you.  He put a hand on her arm in gentle support.  "If it was anyone else, I would be recommending that she should be sent to St Mungo's as soon as possible…" She continued.

"In that case I'll contact them now and you can…"

"I said if.  I don't know, I'll let you choose, but in all honesty…." She took a deep breath then tried again.  "We're going to have to handle this very carefully, handle Minerva very carefully.  What happened today, it was the culmination of a lot of things."  His surprise was obviously at least partly visible in his face as she answered it fluently.  "Don't get me wrong, the conduit was the trigger, but I have no doubt that she could handle something like that without too much of a problem.  Adding what happened today onto the fact that she's been working herself to the bone since the beginning of the summer, worrying about well - pretty much everything and everyone, and then being disarmed… My guess is that when she lit the fire in the common room, she used the last of the pooled energy we had fed them and that was what had been keeping her on her feet."  This made sense to him, though it hurt to acknowledge the fact that his absence had been part of the cause.

"So what happened?  I mean why did she…"

"Go into complete coronary and respiratory arrest?  I would diagnose the cause as a combination of extreme emotional, physical and magical exhaustion."  This was in close enough to layman's terms that he understood what she was saying.

"So, what happens now?"  He asked.

"Well, that's what I was getting at; there's only so much magic can do to help with problems like this, the best healers are always going to be time and rest."

"I can see where you might see a problem there."  Albus predicted.  "Getting Minerva to rest is not going to be simple."

"No.  That's why I think we need to keep her here.  If we send her to St Mungo's she's going to rebel as soon as she's able – which may not be for a while mind.  But if we make the effort to keep her here and give her concessions every once in a while…"

"You mean like letting her back to her rooms earlier than you wanted?"

"Like that, I think we can manipulate her enough to ensure that she doesn't overtax herself at least in the near future."

"What is in the future?  She will fully recover wont she?"  Poppy nodded.

"It'll take time, how much I'm not sure but I'm sure she'll be back to her usual fiery self.  I'm going to tell you now though that she may, MAY, be ready to start back in time for the start of the next term."  Albus did the calculations in his head; there was another week of school left then three weeks worth of holidays.  A month.  The concept that it could take longer for her to get back on his feet scared him.  He nodded slowly at this.  "And I'm telling you now – I'm going to need all the help I can get.  Especially if she's going to be getting out of here anytime soon."  She told him bluntly.

"Of course."  He could think of several of the staff who would be remaining at the school over the festive season that would be more than willing to help out.  "So it's decided then – she'll stay here and we'll attempt to manipulate her into letting herself recover?"  The other woman smiled a little wearily at this. "Is she conscious?  Can I see her?"  This brought out a more genuine smile.

"In and out of it at the moment and as if you'd listen to me if I said no."

"I would listen!  I might then disregard what you ask of me, but I would listen."  He protested his eyes twinkling suspiciously.  She simply stepped aside and gestured toward the door, but now that the moment had come something in him just didn't want to take the final step that would land him on the other side of the door.  He felt a gentle nudge from behind and taking a deep breath stepped through. The sight that met Albus would stay with him all through that weekend, when he went to see the Gryffindor students, when he spoke to the rest of the staff and when he met with Fudge.  The Snow White image of the ghost of the woman he knew lying so pale on the starched bedclothes, the charcoal circles around her eyes and the way her prominent cheekbones seemed to jut out in angry relief to her sallow skin.  It was a scene that he knew in that instant he would never forget in all his days but he wished with all that he was, that he would never have to witness again.  Sitting at her side on the chair that had been left to the left of the bed, he took her hand that seemed so cold and fragile in his own lacking in the strength of its owner.  Clasping it he leaned in close and whispered into her ear.

"Don't you ever think of doing that to me again!  I'm an old man and my heart may not stand it if you do.  Do you realise what a fright you gave me lying there?"  He gently placed his lips on her temple for an instant before withdrawing.  To his great surprise though he received an answer.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."  It was barely audible and some of the words slurred but what she said was unmistakable.  For a second he got ready to try and explain away his previous actions but either she had never really woken up properly in the first place or her body had over ruled her mind and she had slipped back into her healing sleep.  He smiled and squeezed her hand tight in his.

"No, you really wouldn't would you?"


	8. Chapter 8

TIMES OF TRIAL

Disclaimer:  None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me.  They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.

Summery:  This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts.  It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however.  The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

A/N:  The next instalment is here! ( and much more mushy – be warned)  Thanks for al the reviews and for those of you who have been pestering the next and last for the moment chapter of Hidden Truths should be up in the near future *smile*

As ever thanks to my beta Gem for all her work.  I also want to say thank you to my friend Charlotte who helped me out of a rut with the last chapter *big hugs*

Anyway hope you enjoy and the more you respond the quicker I'll write (maybe)

L xxx

******

            Xiomara Hooch pushed opened the door an inch at a time trying to ensure that it didn't squeak.  She crept forward and closed it again so that only a sliver of light fell into the darkness from the other room.  As she manoeuvred her way past the four-poster bed, resplendent in red and gold hangings of course she marvelled at the sight before her, she was certain that up until a few days ago she had never seen Minerva McGonagall asleep and certainly never in the middle of the day.  Her friend was one of those irritating people who always seemed to be up and working two hours before anyone else even considered rising and was still at it when they all hit the sack that evening.  She kept to the right of the room and managed to find her way to the bay window where long heavy drapes managed to block the vast majority of the winter sunlight that was reflected off the newly fallen snow that covered the ground bellow.  A few minutes before she had heard the echo of the bell, signalling the end of classes for the day and as she drew the curtains apart she could see the students begin the first of that years 'snow-wars'.  There was only one game that they played with anything approximating the house rivalry that Quidditch managed to engender and this was it.  She smiled and noted that Filius had already taught them all how to charm there snow balls into their respective house colours, as a vast array of blues, greens, yellows and reds blurred into something of a rainbow mid-flight.  Turning back around to the now bright room, she watched as Min began to stir.  The other woman crinkled up her nose and curled up in a ball in an amusingly feline way.

"Sleeping beauty finally wakes."   She said perching on the side of the bed.

"Only to be told to go back to sleep quarter of an hour later."  Came the reply.

"Now now.  You were awake for at least half an hour earlier before I even mentioned the word rest."  She countered helping her to sit up and rearranging the pillows behind her back.  She received a rather derisive snort but Min said nothing.  "Well in a any case, you have a visitor."

"If it's Poppy you can tell her…"

"Calm down would you?  We both know that she only has your best interests at heart."  Again she only received a snort in reply.  The rather precarious relations between the medi-witch and her patient had taken a pretty definite blow the previous morning when Poppy had arrived to find her sitting up in bed surrounded by text books and bits of parchment 'looking over next years teaching plans'.  Needless to say she hadn't been impressed and had gone to the extent of banishing every book from her chambers they had had to find an empty classroom to store them in when they realised just how many she owned and as it had been Xi who was on 'guard duty' at the time she had gotten the brunt of the tongue lashing.  "Well anyway, our distinguished Headmaster is waiting for an audience."  The look on the other woman's face was a classic as she subconsciously pulled the bed covers up to her chin.  The situation was even more amusing considering that the oriental style neck line of her cream silk pyjamas was anything but revealing and she was pretty certain that they had been a gift from Dumbledore himself when he last visited china.

"But … He can't…Look at me!"

"Since when did the ever practical MG care what she looked like?"

"It's just…well I hardly look very professional do I?"  She finished with her eyes down cast looking at her hands resting in her lap.   Mara had to agree that she didn't look very like the Professor that the students and most of the staff would recognise with her hair loose and flowing around her shoulders and without the glasses perched on the end of her nose.  Reaching out she placed a hand under her chin and forced the other woman to look her in the eye.

"Min.  Five days ago you almost died and gave all of us, especially Albus, the fright of our lives.  I don't think that he's going to care that you don't have that ridiculous bun in.  Anyway, he's here to see his friend and not his deputy."  This had the desired effect, as the other woman seemed to become more of herself and pulled away a little.

"It's not ridiculous it's practical."  She was told in no uncertain terms.  She just smiled a little as the other woman gathered up the plentiful black silk strands and, with surprising speed, braided the long length.  "Well the least you could do is get me an elastic.  Top right hand drawer of the bureaux."  Standing she went over to the dressing table and opened the drawer that she had been instructed to.  Unsurprisingly, considering its owner, the contents were all neatly lined and grouped up in little boxes however the choice when it came to colour was somewhat limited.

"Black, black or black?"  She asked.

"Black is practical.  Don't say it!"  She continued before she could crack a joke about 'practical'.  "And shut the drawer."

"Yes Ma'am."  She muttered with a smile before turning back around.

"I heard that."

"You know you would have missed your calling if you had been anything but a teacher.  You're way to good at spoiling peoples fun."

"For some incomprehensible reason I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"You're just in a good mood 'cause you're about to spend some quality time with the boss."  She said raising her eyebrows suggestively.  Thankfully the pillow that flew her way landed several feet short due to Min's somewhat lacking strength.  Mara ignored the death glare she got as she picked up the offending article and returned it to the bad before handing over the hair fastener.  "I'll speak to you later hun."  She said and after minutely adjusting the bedcovers left her be.

            When she re-entered the sitting room she found Albus Dumbledore staring into the flames of the fire that roared contentedly in the grate.

"Well, she's awake."  She told him.  "Don't worry if she bites off you're head though – that's fairly standard."

"Is she being a dreadful patient?"  He asked concern overwhelming the usual sparkle in his piercing eyes and it struck her that as far as she was aware he hadn't seen Minerva since the afternoon of the incident.

"Not really, at least for the moment all her protests are somewhat token.  She might complain about being forced to rest but she's still exhausted really."  He nodded solemnly at this.  "And since the rather abrupt removal of all her reading material she's been suffering from extreme with-drawl symptoms, which roughly translates to complete and utter boredom. Not that you can blame her really, stuck inside these four walls."

"Well," He began a mischievous twinkle returning that scared her for a moment. "We'll just have to see what we can do about that won't we."  She did realise though that, there was no way he would ever do anything to endanger her recovery.  As he left her alone she sat down on the couch facing the fireplace.  For several moments she sat there trying in vain to pretend that she wasn't straining her ears to hear what was going on inside the bedroom.  Although she was certainly not one of the most typical women on the staff she did have a reputation as something of a gossip.  It wasn't that she wanted to nose into other people's affairs it was just that the lives of her fellow staffers just begged to be investigated.  Giving up all pretences of being interested in anything else she stood and quietly made her way to the door that had been left ajar.  Kneeling down she could see most of the pair inside, well pretty much everything bar their heads.  The Headmaster it seemed had taken up the same position she had earlier ignoring the wing-backed chair that sat next to the bed.  She smiled at this wondering what some of the students would make of their transfigurations professor now.

"Calm down, my dear."  He said, she'd obviously just missed him having his head bitten off.  Her grin widened further as she noticed that he had placed a soothing hand on her arm.

"I wish people would stop telling me to 'calm down'!"  It seemed that she was not to be placated though but then suddenly seemed to run out of steam and let her head fall.  "I'm sorry."  She was somewhat taken aback by this – Minerva apologising.  Again it wasn't something that you heard every day.  "I just…  It's so …well… frustrating."

"You never were the best at doing nothing.  I'll put it down to lack of practice."

"And I'll put that down as your fault."

"My fault?" He asked the playfulness seeming to dissipate far too quickly.

"Well you are the one who creates half the work I do!"  This was clearly meant as a tease by the smile that was evident even in her voice but she too grew serious.  "You do realise that if I don't want to do any of it – I would be quite clear in letting you know."

"You do have a tendency of letting me know when you're not happy."  Xi just shook her head at that, like Min would ever complain about her work.  For a man who obviously knew quite a great deal about handling this woman he could sometimes be as blind as a dingbat.  "In any case I'm hoping that this fire underneath Cornelius is going to mean that I'm able to spend much more of my time back here.  But I feel we draw too close to the subject of work.  Do you remember when I promised to take to Russia?"

"Vaguely it was an age ago and probably after one too may Lemon drops."  His soft chuckle filled the air and it was not beyond Mara to see how it could be found addictive.  "I guess we never did find the time."

"Well you certainly seem to have that in oceans at the moment so why don't we give it a go?"  She could almost see the look of confusion on Min's face – it was very like the one that graced her own.  "Welcome to the first ever Albus Dumbledore's Whirlwind Whistle-stop Tour of The World.  Not quite the Orient or even the Siberian express but I think Madame will find that the quarters are quite comfortable."

"Is this the part where I have to remind the barmy old codger that I really am not a child anymore?"  Minerva asked. 

"Whatever do you mean my dear?"

"A round the world tour?  Isn't that a trick to amuse one of your nieces or nephews when they were ill?"

"How do you know that I amn't going to be showing you around the worlds most notorious red-light districts?"  Xi had to stifle a laugh as he asked this in a completely sincere and innocent voice.

"Sometimes Albus I wonder if you aren't less mature than some of our students."  Even though her words were meant as a scolding her tone told of barely controlled mirth.

"Only some of them?"  This time he sounded as if he was pouting.

"I take it back – I have no need to wonder."

"Do be quiet for a minute would you and you might actually enjoy the experience."  To Xi's great amazement this received no reply, the man truly was a master.  "Now if you would like to look out the window to your…"  There was a pause and the sound of shuffling.  She could see Dumbledore stand and turn presumably checking to see which side her left was because that's where he told her to look.  Following where both their gazes were now facing she found herself looking out the window.  The sky was rushing past at a rather alarming rate and it took her a minute to realise that this must just be an illusion.  "This should be Edinburgh we're approaching now, ah yes here it is.  Do you remember when you took me into the town during The Festival?"

"As I recall you were reluctant to accept that you wouldn't stand out in the crowd dressed in your robes."  She smiled at this as she too had been dragged out to see this particular event and had been somewhat shocked by the number of people in what even she considered strange outfits.  Again his chuckle filled the room and spilled out over the threshold.

"And here comes London after which we'll be turning left towards Paris before taking in Brussels and Scandinavia…"

"Ahem."  Came a quiet but authoritative cough from behind the Quidditch mistress.  She had an unhealthy fear of who was there before she had even turned to look.  She was right.  Standing tall above her, hands planted firmly on her hips and with a scowl on her face, stood Poppy Pomfrey. 

 "What on earth do you think you're doing?"  The other woman hissed once they had both retreated to the other side of the room.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was just making sure that Min didn't break any of the rules?"  There had been several of these set out two days ago when their friend had been allowed to move from the hospital to her quarters – the jury was still out on the question of whether this was because Poppy just couldn't take anymore or because Min was ready to leave though.  "Oh but they're just so cute together though!"  She pleaded.

"I know that.  You know that.  Hell the vast majority of the wizarding world is aware of that fact but they seem to be hell bent on not making anything of it."  She said gesturing towards the door.  "Can you imagine what would happen if she caught you Mara?" She didn't get a chance to respond though.  "If she realised just how much the student populous, never mind the staff, talk about them?  She'd withdraw back into her shell!  She'd stop confiding in him and she'd stop spending time doing anything that wasn't strictly professional."  She had to admit that she felt somewhat abashed after this talking-to.

"Ok, ok.  But I still think that maybe if the just got a good kick up the behind they'd…" She trailed off as the other door opened and Rose Sprout poked her head around the door.

"Care to give me a hand?"  She asked as she came further in and they noticed that her arms were laden with an assortment of …well different things.  She dumped her load on the table.

"What on earth…?"  Poppy asked again.

"Get Well Soon gifts."  Rose said bluntly.

"Who from?"  Xi asked as she picked up a stuffed lion that growled fiercely at her before curling up and falling fast asleep.  "Remind you of anyone?"  She asked and the head of Hufflepuff smothered a giggle.

"Why exactly were you asking who they were from?"  Poppy asked after she too had straightened out her features.

"Well, the students seem to be arranging the placement of their gifts rather well."  Rose pointed out.  "The Gryffindors are sending them to her quarters here in the tower, the younger students from other houses are leaving them in her classroom and the older outside her study."

"And the staff?"  Poppy asked.

"Depends who."  Mara replied picking up a bundle of cards.

"Oh, yes.  These were from her first year transfiguration class – apart from that creature."  Rose pointed to the dozing stuffed toy.  "He was prancing back and forth in from of the door out there.  I saw Lee Jordan and the gruesome twosome scampering down the stairs on my way up so I would assume it's from them."  She added as she joined Xi on the couch.  Poppy was looking around as if only noticing for the first time that the room was filled to brimming with homemade cards, chocolates and flowers.

"They must have stolen your entire rose-garden."  She said eventually looking to the herbologist.

"Pretty much."  She answered matter of factly.  "But at least I know they're being appreciated and most of them did ask first."

"Chocolate frog?"  The Quidditch mistress offered taking one for herself.

"Mara!  They're not yours!"  The medi-witch protested.

"It's not as if Min's going to eat them.  She'll be happy as long as we leave the Sugar Mice."  The other two women cottoned-on and they all finished the sentence together.  It was a long running joke amongst the group that though Minerva was quite happy at catching, playing with and killing mice when she was in cat form she balked at actually eating them.  She had however developed quite a comical liking for the muggle sugar confection.  They often teased her that if she had an endless supply of books, sugar mice and milk she would be forever content.

"Who sent those?"  Rose asked managing to pick out the box, Mara had placed at the forefront of the rest of the candy.

"Ginny Weasly and Miss Granger I believe – along with the latest edition of Transfiguration Today."

"And I thought that was my copy, drat."  Albus's voice shocked Xi a little as he entered the room and closed the door on the once again dark bedroom.  "She fell asleep just before we reached St Petersburg.  You were right she really can't keep her eyes open for long."

"I'm sure in another day or so she'll be fit to at least get out of bed for a while."  Poppy said as she nibbled on the edge of a chocolate frog.

"Good good.  I promised to loose to her at chess the next time I get the chance to drop by."  He said with a smile.

"How are things going at the Ministry?"  Rose asked.  Mara knew that was where he had spent most of his time since the attack but hadn't heard much more than that, and what he had told Min.

"I'm not too sure.  It seems as though the Minister has his head further buried in the sand than I had hoped.  At the moment he seems convinced that even though the level of dark activity has gone up ten fold in the last six months and all those who were arrested here this weekend have some connection to the Death Eaters, never mind what happened at the end of the last term, that there is not enough evidence to suspect that Voldemort has risen again."  She could tell that the ever-patient man's frustration at the situation was growing.  She was also aware that the impression he had left Min with was entirely different from what he had just told them.  Again she wondered at the talent of the man for manipulating those around him and to her own surprise was not perturbed, but reassured by this.


	9. Chapter 9

**TIMES OF TRIAL**

  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  


Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

A/N:  Well this is the first chapter for a while and you will be glad o hear that the plot thickens once again *smile*  I would really appreciate it if you not only let me know wheat you think of this chapter but where you think I'm heading when you review (which I know you will *grin*).  Thanks again to my fabby beta GEM andto everyone who did review chapter 8.  
  


******  
            Minerva glanced at the clock on the study wall and then back down at the pile of unmarked essays that sat to her right.  With the students returning to classes after their Christmas break in just a few days she really did wish that she was further on.  Usually she would have had all her marking done and out of the way before Hogmanay but due to the rather exceptional circumstances that had surrounded the end of the last term she really oughtn't be too upset if she were a little behind.  She had spent the last week of the term confined to her bed and though Poppy had dained she was allowed up in the following days, her activities had been significantly hampered by her constant guardians.  It had been another five days before she finally got so tired of the invasion of her personal space that she put an end to Poppy's over protective scheme that ensured there was constantly somebody under her feet.  It had been for the most part Xi, Rose or Poppy herself, who took up residence in her quarters and she learned to live with that.  On one occasion though, when she had woken from her compulsory afternoon nap she had found Sybil Trelawney, of all people sipping tea in her favourite chair.  Luckily for the _'seer'_ Albus had arrived and offered to 'relieve' the other woman before blood was spilled, but only just.  Much to her chagrin she really hadn't been up to doing a great amount of work up until the close of the year anyway and had again been hampered by visitors of all shapes and sizes.   On the first or second of the year, Remus Lupin had turned up outside her door with two very tearful looking Gryffindor first years.  She had thought at first, to be angry at him for not giving her any warning to their arrival, after all her distinctly casual attire of black slacks and loafers with the red fine-knit cashmere sweater was not exactly what she usually met with her students wearing, and yet again her hair had simply been braided to keep it out of her face.  That thought quickly vanished though when he explained that one of the sixth year Slytherin had been trying to convince the girls that their head of house had died and that was the explanation for her absences at meals.  The real reason was simply that the long climb up and down to the Great Hall had, until recently, taxed her so much that it wasn't really an option to make the trip three times daily.  But apparently they hadn't been entirely reassured by Remus' promise that she was in deed most defiantly alive and recovering nicely, he ought to know as he had spent many a pleasant hour with her. However he had decided that the best way to put any rumours to rest was to let them see for themselves.  Upon hearing this she had invited them in then after reassuring them that she would speak to Professor Snape about the boy poured them all tea and sat and conversed with them in her usual fashion until they were suitably calm and reassured that they acquiesced to be escorted back to their dormitory by Professor Lupin.  She had found it a little strange slipping back into the Professor that she usually was but whose mask she hadn't needed for some time.  After this encounter though she had made a conscious effort to attend at least one meal a day and thus thwight any further rumours of her untimely demise.  That had been almost a week ago and she was now pleased to say that she could travel up and down to the Great Hall three times a day without batting an eyelid – even if she would have rather sped up the trip going travelling on four legs.  Poppy was being unnaturally stubborn about that one even for her – no transforming.  In any case, she was still behind in her marking though she had been hard at it all afternoon and it was almost time for dinner.  She would have much rather stayed and worked on now that she was on a roll, but she knew that any time she did save by missing the meal was likely to be lost when Poppy came storming up to find out where exactly she had been.  Sighing a little she gave in to the inevitable and pushed the papers to the side and headed towards the door.

            Though the students had been returning in dribs and drabs over the last week or so there were still many empty seats at the house tables.  The same could not be said however for the staff table as, as was usually the case it was nearly filled to capacity.  Minerva did notice as she took the seat that Albus waved her over to between Rose and himself, that Poppy was one of the few missing but she did remember Xi saying something about one of the Hufflepuffs coming back to the school with the muggle flu so perhaps that explained her absence.  Serverus had not appeared either but she suspected that he was merely holed-up in his damp and dreary dungeons, as he tended to be during the holidays.  It didn't seem to matter how long she had known him she would never understand what he saw in that place – especially at this time of year.  But then again it wouldn't do if they were all the same she supposed.  The only other remarkable absence was Hagrid's and she let herself have a sly smile as she remembered him telling her about going to visit a friend in France over the break.  She raised her goblet and took a mouthful of the foul concoction that the mediwitch was still insisting she drank twice a day.  Well she could be fairly certain that somebody would have told on her even if Poppy weren't here to notice her absence.  Soon they were presented with their first course and everybody began to dig in.  The conversation at meal times was anything but predictable and tonight it seemed that Albus was steering it in a somewhat unusual direction.  By the time that the main course had arrived he had engaged everybody in a fervent discussion on muggle magicians.

"But you can't deny Fillius, that they are exceptionally talented at their art.  They have been managing to fool each other for centuries now.  I too have seen them perform and I have to admit that if they aren't using magic I am quite flummoxed as to how they do manage."

"You also have to acknowledge that some of the greatest 'magicians' were in fact wizards though."  The much smaller man countered.

"True, quite true, but the gentleman we saw certainly wasn't one of those however.  Was he Minerva?"  The sound of her name caught her out, as her mind must have been wondering.   She nodded a little, obviously satisfying him as he turned onto his next victim.  As she turned her attention back to her plate she couldn't seem to concentrate on what she was doing, there was something at the edge of her consciousness.  Invading it slowly but surely.  Her hands began to tremble ever so slightly and the room seemed to be getting warmer.  As she tried to pinpoint the feeling, the walls began to close in on her.  Looking down she closed her eyes as her surroundings began to spin.  'Come on.'  She encouraged herself but when she opened her eyes again the only change was that her stomach roiled violently.  Taking a shallow breath, she muttered something approximating "Excuse me." And fled towards the nearest exit, a door that was roughly level to the end of the Professor's table.

            Once out of sight she sped up, one hand subconsciously clamping its self to her mouth the other brushing up against the wall steadying her as she ran.  Without really thinking it through she found herself in the girls bathroom down the hallway and was soon on her knees throwing up what felt like the entire contents of her body into one of the toilets.  As the heaving paused momentarily she rested her head on the cool porcelain and tried once again to identify the feeling that now seemed to envelop her but yet remained just outside her comprehension.  She hadn't had any success when shortly after another wave of nausea set her back retching over the bowl.  She could feel the sweat pouring down her back but she was shivering, her damp robes clinging to her hypersensitive skin.  She was vaguely aware of someone brushing back the strands of hair that had come loose and now hung irritating about her face.  As the unusual feelings began to diminish she began to feel more like herself, for which she was immensely grateful as if there was one thing she disliked more than being generally ill it was actually being sick.  She manoeuvred herself into a more comfortable position so that her back rested against the wall of the cubical and she was no longer sitting on her feet.

"Here you go honey."  Said Rose, who had obviously been the one to follow her out and handed her a glass of water.  She took a mouthful and swilled it around her mouth before spitting it out into the bowl and hitting the flush.

"Thanks."  She replied somewhat hoarsely.

"My pleasure.  Xi went to go get Poppy, they shouldn't be too long now."  She couldn't help but scowl at this.  "Don't you start that Madame!"  The other witch warmed.  "You were as white as a sheet when you left the table and you don't look a whole lot better after the incident."  Minerva was tempted to argue this as, though she was fairly certain that her appetite wasn't going to return anytime in the near future she did feel significantly better than she had.  She stayed quiet for a moment before she spoke.

"Can we at least go outside and grab some fresh air?"  She asked.  "Honestly, I feel much better but it's getting awfully stuffy in here."    Rose looked somewhat sceptical at this suggestion but eventually conceded standing up, proffered her an arm for support.   Minerva would have declined the offer but she got the distinct impression that her balance was not quite what it ought to be as she stood up.  They made their way through the thankfully deserted corridors relatively quickly and were soon out on the front steps.

"Thanks." she said again as they both sank down onto the cool stone.  The wind was brisk as it swept around the castle and quickly caught up her damp robes but she enjoyed the distraction.  

It seemed however that her return to health was going to be short-lived as soon it felt as though there was an ice-cold grip creeping through her thoughts and she realised that she was becoming more and more focussed on the alien feeling that had returned.  She was aware that her breathing was becoming more and more rapid but yet her lungs burned for lack of oxygen.  She could see Rose as she moved to kneel down a few steps and turned to face her taking a grip of her arms, could hear that the other woman was talking but couldn't decipher what she said.  There was a bang from behind them that some part of her managed to identify as the sound of the heavy front door being swung shut, but try as she might, she couldn't turn to see who was there.  She knew that her entire body was shuddering now but still she couldn't enforce any kind of control over it.  She couldn't decide whether she wanted to block the feeling, to bypass and try to ignore it or to reach out and identify what it was.  'Knowledge is the key to success.' Came the somewhat abstract thought.  With a huge effort she managed to lower her head to her knees and tried to focus on what was going on inside her.  She had little luck but did become aware of a hand on her wrist and thought automatically of Poppy.  Suddenly though she was pulled back down and away as if by an undercurrent.  Her whole body was at once consumed and not, with the most immense pain imaginable.  Something clicked in some part of her brain that was still functioning, that that was it.  The feeling that she had been trying to identify – it was pain, but disassociated from any one part of her body or even her body at all, she had failed to recognise it for what it was.  Extreme, heart-breaking, soul shattering agony.  This revelation did not however, help her to quell the rising panic that she had been trying to fight.  Suddenly she was aware of a hand on her back rubbing slow circles in a comforting rhythm.  It seemed strange that such a small action could make such a difference but she felt her muscles relax a little and the calm began slowly to spread from her body to her mind.  She became more aware of her own body again even if her ability to control it seemed to still be severely limited.

"Albus?"  She didn't realise she had spoken out loud he responded.

"Shhh it's ok."  These words were like oil on rough water to the part of her brain that was still her own.  Soon though his hand seemed to move, it stayed on her shoulder, but he was moving.  When he settled back down it felt as though she were cocooned within his power.  Another wave of fiery agony swept over her but instead of giving in to it she fought.  Thinking rationally for the first time she realised that if she could not isolate and bypass the pain as she had taught her self to do then she would just have to do something else.  It felt as though her entire body was on fire, tiny pinpricks of heat marching through it – so she tried to think of cool thoughts.  She thought of swimming in the North Sea on New Years day, she thought of Albus giving them ice-cream cones at the last staff meeting before Christmas, she thought of standing up at the top of Gryffindor Tower, on the castles old battlements the wind and snow whipping around her.  She managed to have some effect and the feeling of power that came with it was more help still.  She tried to focus on the goings on around her, realising that her breathing was slowing down tried to open her eyes and sit up on her own.  She was at least partially successful.  She felt somebody wrap a heavy cloak or something similar, around her shoulders as she realised that now that the heat of the fire and pain was receding rapidly that she was shivering with the cold.  Poppy was hovering around her again and even, somewhat distracted as she was, she could see the worry in her friend's eyes.  She gave her a small smile and though she wasn't how successful it was in reassuring her it did enough that the other woman returned it before returning to her usual formidable self.

"Hospital wing now.  And don't even try to argue Min."  In all honesty she was exhausted and didn't think she could put any form of protest at all at the moment but she wasn't about to say that and in any case she didn't need to as someone else got there first.

"I think she knows better than to argue too fervently with you my dear."  Albus said from behind her.  Then moving himself beside her scooped her into his arms and began to carry her inside.  She was vaguely aware of Xiomara, Rose and Poppy following them in but her world seemed to shrink again, in a much more pleasant fashion, to just the strong arms that held her and the comforting scent comprised mainly of lemon but encompassing so many other things that escaped her.   A part of her was aware that she could have been levitated, that dinner must have finished some time ago, and that she should be concerned that there might well be students in the corridors, as well as the fact that she still had no idea what had happened to her but as she drifted into sleep these things were pushed further and further away for examination on a later date.

            When she woke a short time later it was when someone was lowering her gently onto a bed.

"And I thought I'd seen the last of this place."  She said as she pushed herself back into a sitting position.  She felt surprisingly refreshed after what could have only been a few minutes rest.  Poppy was bustling around and Albus had seated himself on the chair next to the bed in the room she had spent her first week after the 'incident' in.

"How are you feeling?"  The mediwitch asked as she began taking her temperature and her blood pressure.

"Surprisingly well."  She replied feeling distinctly unnerved by all this scrutiny.

"Well your vital statistics are all fairly normal again."  The other woman continued sounding more irritated than anything else.  "Can you tell me what happened?"  She continued her voice mellowing dramatically.  She thought about it for a minute before trying to explain what had happened.  It felt so stupid trying to explain the feeling that was there and yet not, a pain that she felt but wasn't hers.  It wasn't until she said exactly that that Albus stood and without saying a word bolted from the room.  Minerva couldn't decide if she was hurt or merely intrigued by this action but it was plain to see Poppy was not pleased.

"Well I'm still at a loss to what happened."  She told her bluntly perching on the edge of the bed.

"In any case…" She began, about to suggest that as the other witch couldn't see anything wrong with her now that she should be allowed to go. 

"You are staying right here for the time being!"  She paused for a moment before reaching over and taking her hand.  "I don't know what was wrong with you earlier, or what happened but whatever it was it scared me.  One of these days you are going to be the death of me Minerva McGonagall!"  She ended with a smile albeit a nervous one.  She returned the favour.  "Now I want to run some more tests but for the moment I'm guessing you're going to have two very insistent visitors sitting outside – feeling up to letting them know you're still alive?"  This had been a bit of a joke between the four of them since they had learned of her visit with her first years.  The three of them seemed to have jumped on it as a very good excuse to 'just drop by'.

"Sure."  She replied as she rearranged herself and the pillows a little.  She may have disliked being coddled but the fact that there was someone, or someones who cared enough for her to be concerned about her well being was a reassuring fact.  Unfortunately this brought her thoughts back to Albus and his untimely departure but with an effort she pushed it to the back of her mind knowing that when he was ready to confide in her he would. 


	10. Chapter 10

**TIMES OF TRIAL**

  
**Disclaimer:** None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  


**Summery:** This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

******

Serverus cursed at the smashed bottle of ink that lay at his feet, it's contents pooling on the unforgiving stone.  Rubbing his arm subconsciously where his Dark Mark continued to burn he muttered '_reparo'_ catching the bottle as it flew back into the air.  He had been a little shocked if not altogether surprised at his being called as it had been three weeks, probably closer to four now, since the attack on the school but this was the first time that he had been summoned.  He had long ago given up worrying about when he would be called as he had long ago learned that worrying really didn't help anything a great deal.  In any case though, he had been slightly concerned about what was going on without his knowledge.  It wasn't like their Lord to stay quiet for so long when his followers were so likely in need of discipline.  Reopening the bottle of ink he dipped a quill in it and scratched the long familiar code phrase on it

Gone Fishing. 

He left it on the centre of his desk knowing that when, or if he was missed that this would tell anyone close enough to know the truth, all they would need to hear.  His absence at the evening meal would not be unusual, he had made an effort over the years to ensure that it was never unheard of him to do anything, well except perhaps smile and volunteer to give points to Gryffindor.  He shook his head to rid it of these trivial thoughts as he summoned his heavy Death Eaters robes from the wardrobe.  He pulled them on before he reached the dungeon exit knowing that the weather was still crisp and cool.  He walked in the shadows, fallowing the perimeter of the castle until he was at the point where the distance between the wall and the forest was smallest.  He hurried along the now familiar path using the time to try and clear his mind as well as he could.  He began constructing defences carefully, layer upon layer of subterfuge and lies all designed to preserve the illusion so many were fooled by.  When he felt the tingle run along his skin caused by the ancient protective charms that surrounded the castle, he pulled up his sleeve and pressed his finger to the still fiery mark seared forever upon his arm.  Serverus Snape had a severe dislike of not being in charge of things, hence the fact that life in general wound him up so much, and how uncomfortable he was apparateing away with not the first clue as to where he was going to re-appear. When he opened his eyes, involuntarily shut during the transport he was at least a little relieved to recognise his surroundings.  Though not one of the Lord's favourite meeting spots, they had congregated there before and he knew that the walk to the council was not far, though undoubtedly it would feel like miles when he was ready to leave.  He was not a pessimist merely a realist whose experience suggested that he was more than likely to leave this place in a much worse condition than he had arrived.

The shadows cast by the trees left him on edge as he made his way along a barely visible path but although he kept both his eyes and ears peeled he met no-one.  He hadn't expected to though, it was customary for the Death Eaters to all be sent to slightly different locations in the hope that even if one of them were followed, the rest would escape capture. It was a few minutes before he heard the first sound of life in the dense forest other than the unnerving rustling of small animals all ominously running away from his destination.  A quiet moan travelled through the dank air and at first the potions master was unsure whether it was even human or not.  The clearing, when he reached it, was illuminated only by the moon but was far brighter than from where he had come, so much so that he had to pause to let his eyes adjust.  When they did, he saw that the usual circle was already discernable; though there were still gaps for those yet to arrive.  In the centre of the ring however, lay Lucius, curled into a foetal position at their Master's feet.  In contrast to the usually elegant, composed, and generally arrogant impression he usually gave, the head of this most prestigious pureblood line was looking childlike in his protestation.  Serverus could smell the dark magic that already saturated the air and suspected that their Lord had already seen fit to punish his deputy before he had called the others.  The blond man's hair was caked with mud and other forest-floor debris, having fallen from its clasp, presumably as he writhed around in agony under his Master's favourite tool.  As the others emerged from the shadows he took the time to observe them and soon realised that the only absence appeared to be Wormtail.  This really didn't shock him; the animagi was probably too frightened after the part he had presumably played in the events of a few weeks previously to show his face.  He would pay for his defiance no doubt, and to a greater extent than those who were present now.  They stood in silence, none of them speaking or even breathing out of turn.  They stood, like statues for what must have been a half hour before Serverus first felt the swell in the darkness.  Like turning up the volume the pain increased continually.  He could hear those around him begin to call out, fall to their knees and try and extinguish the invisible fire that consumed their bodies.  But even when his legs gave way beneath him he made no sound, he had learned long ago that to call out did nothing to alleviate the excruciating agony they all endured and certainly did nothing to appease their Leader.  He wasn't sure when his detached mind registered that something was different about this experience.  There was panic on the edge of his conscience ebbing and flowing but ultimately seeming to try and invade.  It wasn't any of the others around him of that he was sure and it was certainly not any form of leglimency he had ever encountered before for he also knew that his barriers did not fall even when he was under the crutiatus curse.  If this had not been proved time and again he would long since have been discovered.  As the curse was lifted and he began to be able to think clearly again he became certain that this was not a concerted effort to attack him, as when he tried to push back there was no resistance, they retreated.  The connection certainly seemed to be two way.  For an instant he thought perhaps Lucius was trying to contact him from where he lay apparently unconscious at the centre of the group.  Almost instantly though he rejected this thought as the other man was certainly in no condition to initiate such a process and there was no discernable reason for him to do so in any case.

"UP."  Came the cool voice heavy with unspoken implications.  He got to his feet.  He wasn't sure what was the best way to proceed but if he was going to protest his innocence in the matter he supposed he had better act innocent - he bowed his head.  A few of those around him did the same and were swiftly followed by all those who appeared to be in a state to do so.  As the curse had been widespread, even a caster as skilled as the perpetrator in this case could not cast it with such strength as was usual. Their recovery in this instance would be swift.

With both Lucius and Pettigrew missing from the usual circle, Serverus found only Avery between their Lord and himself, a situation he was not entirely sure he was comfortable with.  Again they stood in silence giving Snape time to ponder the distinctly unnerving sensation he had just experienced.  He did not have long to think upon it though as soon Avery was once more writhing around on the ground.  He didn't move a muscle, none of the rest of them did.  They had all been in their Lord's company far to long to think that standing up for one another was either advantageous or sensible.  He could feel the power behind the spell even from where he stood off to one side and his nervousness increased.  This concerted individual attack was certainly going to prove more challenging to deal with than the last, but no matter how well he braced himself when their Master's ire was turned in his direction he was instantly felled.  It was only the inordinate number of hours of practice that prevented his most essential occlumenical protection from collapsing.  The pain was swift and intense and quickly consuming him.  Like a vice around his chest, restricting his breathing, squeezing the breath from his body.  He knew how to deal with this though, he had been through this so many times it was automatic now for him to try and take long shallow breaths easing the air into his painful lungs.  But this time he couldn't suppress the urge to try and take gulps of air even though he knew he was going to end up hyperventilating and that would certainly not help the situation.  Screwing his eyes even further shut he tried with all his might to focus, but that unfamiliar panic was back, ten times as strong as before and certainly not abating.  As both pain and lack of oxygen resulted in his feeling more detached it dawned on him he realised that even though the feeling was totally alien the presence it's self was familiar.  As he wracked his brain to try and establish who, or what, it was something changed.  The presence was still there but they were calming somewhat and as they did it became easier for him to control his breathing.  There was a comforting aspect now in such contrast to the unreined fear of before that he couldn't even be sure that it was the same person but…. His train of thought was derailed as another wave of fiery agony swept through his body.  What happened next was perhaps one of the most surreal experiences of the potions master's life; he suddenly had the entirely novel feeling that he was about to sun into an icy body of water at some unwholesome hour of the morning and the splash of cold that followed was almost refreshing.  Then he could taste fudge ice-cream but it wasn't until the freezing snow filled wind was whipping around him as he stood at the top of the tallest tower in the castle, a location he was certain that he had never visited as it was Gryffindor tower to boot, that realisation dawned.  By Merlin he was going to kill that woman when he got his hands on her but first, he might be inclined to say _thank you._

**A/N:**  Well done to all those of you who made guesses – not sure whether I ough to take their accuracy as a complement or not though *grin*  In any case, once again, thanks to Gem and I would be super chuffed if you would review *grin*.  Thanks for reading – Linds.


	11. Chapter 11

**TIMES OF TRIAL**

**Chapter 11**

  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  


Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

Authors Notes:  Thanks to M for beta-ing and GEM for the thought *grin*

******

Albus had been watching his Deputy out of the corner of his eye since she had arrived at the table for dinner.   He had suspected that she had been working herself too hard over the last few days but her appearance, at least to begin with, hadn't heightened his concerns.  She had looked a little weary, but not unhealthily so despite the inroads he was certain she was making into her marking.  He had thought a few days ago, to offer to help her with correcting the end of term exams and essays that the students had handed in but when he mentioned the idea in front of Poppy she had halted the idea in its tracks.  She had pointed out, quite correctly, that when Min was marking she wasn't pacing hallways or stalking the library or heaven forbid – the grounds.  He also had to admit that they were all doing their best not to 'smother her into rebellion' as the Nurse had so succinctly put it.  But when he had asked her about their visit to London when they had seen the magician, her answer had been more distant than he had come to expect.  He had increased his interest in her though he didn't pry any further.  There was something wrong, he established that fairly quickly, and he was just about to act when she made her own rather hasty departure.  He glanced at Rose who had been seated on Minerva's other side and was already in the process of getting up to follow her friend.  The flying instructor, who was sitting at that end of the table nearest the door, bobbed her head and mouthed 'Poppy' to him before she too left.  The atmosphere in the hall had changed a little.  The students couldn't help but to have noticed what was going on he supposed, but though their chatter was dulled somewhat it continued until, after almost ten minutes of nervous fidgeting on Albus's part, he dismissed them back to their common rooms.  They went quickly, or at least more quickly than they tended to usually, and once they were mostly out of the room he too headed out the side door.  It was only then that he realised that he had no idea of where he ought to go for them.  Looking up the corridor to the left, then back towards the entrance hall he caught a glimpse of Xiomara and Poppy and headed swiftly in their direction.  He arrived just in time to greet them as they went through the heavy front doors which had thankfully been left ajar.  As they approached it was plain to see that all was not well.  Rose glanced up from where she was kneeling in front of Minerva and the worry etched on her face was enough to send Albus' heart racing. 

The Hufflepuff quickly recounted what had happened as Poppy set about to try and do something for her patient.

"She seemed much better, then…well she seemed to just sort of, zone-out on me."  

"Her pulse is racing and she's hyperventilating, that's about as much as I can tell you right now."  Poppy said, her hand still on Minerva's wrist.  "We need to try and calm her down.  Anchor her.  Albus?"  She asked.  He had already sat down next to her, and after glancing up at the mediwitch gently placed a hand on Tabby's back rubbing gentle circles as he began talking to her.  He wasn't sure exactly what he said but he talked quietly in words that were meant solely for her, whether or not she could hear them.

"Albus?"  She asked.  Her voice was barely audible but all the same it sent a rush of relief pouring through his veins.

"Shhh it's ok."  He reassured her.

"Maybe if you sat with her back up against your chest Albus?   That way she'll be able to feel you breathe."  Poppy suggested.  Determined not to lose contact with her he left a hand on her as he shifted around so that she was settled between his legs her head tucked just underneath his own.  He was vaguely aware that Rose and Mara had both backed off a little, but was more concerned that the woman in his arms seemed to have slipped away again.  After a minute or two though, the constant shaking stopped for a moment followed by a shudder.  Albus could feel her shivering now and without a thought he turned and summoned his travelling cloak from the staff Cloakroom just inside the store.  When it arrived he draped it over her shoulders.

"Hospital wing now.  And don't even try to argue Min."   Poppy's voice held some of the relief they must all have felt when it seemed Minerva was more herself.  He interjected in the hopes of salvaging their already delicate relations.

"I think she knows better than to argue too fervently with you my dear."  As he spoke he stood and then neatly picked up the other woman before she could tax herself by insisting that she could walk.  As they walked through the empty corridors he noticed that she seemed to relax further into his embrace and by the time they arrived at the Hospital wing he was certain that she was asleep.  He tried to lay her down on the bed gently in order to not wake her from her slumber, but it seemed he was unsuccessful as her eyes fluttered gently and then opened fully.  Her remark, though superficially flippant, told him she wasn't gearing herself up for a long stay.  He listened closely to what she said, being intrigued by what she described more than anything else.  It was only when Minerva described the feeling as an all-encompassing fiery pain that ideas began to formulate in his head.  When she mentioned someone else's pain it was the final straw.  It was an easy enough theory to check out he supposed and decided to do just that.   The distance between the Slytherin dungeons and the hospital wing was not far and the Headmaster traversed it far more quickly than usual.  As he approached the final few corners however he slowed his steps and ordered his breathing, knowing that he had to try not and attract attention to his visit to Severus' quarters.  After knocking and receiving no answer, he checked to make certain that he wasn't being observed before he spoke the password to the wards and stepped inside.  The fire was burning low in the grate, sending eerie shadows all around what was to begin with a disconcerting room.  Severus' office was attached to his others but in a completely different style.  Where he had made a few concessions to comfort in his sitting room, the walls here were covered in shelves that were in turn stacked to the gunnels with books, journals and perhaps most unsettlingly, jar upon jar of specimens and some of the rarer, more dangerous potions ingredients.  Albus crossed quickly to the unsurprisingly neat desk and identified what he was looking for straight off.  He wasn't sure whether what he found there was reassuring or not.  If Severus had in fact been called, then that certainly backed up his original theory that it was his pain that Minerva was feeling.  It did not however bode well for the potions master himself.  He knew that when the other man returned to the school, he would have to visit his quarters to divest himself of his mask and hood before he went anywhere else.  This being the case Albus let himself into the sitting room and settled in front of the fire to wait.

As he watched the flames flickering in the grate he let his mind wonder only down constructive pathways.  He thought of what he was assuming to be the cause of their problems, the strong ancient magic that they had both performed.  It's uses and even successes were only documented sparsely and so there was little known about the spell itself or the long-term after effects that could be suffered by those instigating the spell.  However, there really didn't seem to be any other obvious explanation for what he was assuming had gone on.  He was so deeply lost in his thoughts that he almost jumped as the main door opened and someone entered the chambers in which he now sat.  There were several hasty footsteps across the flagstones before the door was almost thrown open.

"Albus?"  Obviously Severus had not expected him to be there.  "Do you know where Minerva is?  We have to go find her – there could be……."  The headmaster stood and turned to face him and gestured that he should stop speaking and calm down.

"Minerva is safely ensconced in the Hospital wing.  She seems well enough now – if a little confused."  The other man looked relieved at this.  Albus took his elbow and lead him towards a seat in front of the fire.

"Are you alright?"  He asked taking in his paler than usual complexion, but though he was somewhat shaky he certainly didn't look nearly as bad as Albus had seen him previously on return from meetings where Voldemort had been less than pleased.  He got a short nod in reply.  As he conjured a tea set and poured two cups, adding a dash of whisky to the one he passed to the younger man, he thought of the next most important item that had to be dealt with.

"I think you had better tell me what happened."  Severus did that and Albus didn't have a hard job reconciling this with the story Minerva had told him earlier, even down to the imagery she had used.

"When he finally got through with us," He continued.  "He didn't seem too interested in anything else.  He kept highlighting Malfoy's stupidity to us all and like I said, he'd obviously had a go at him before we arrived, but he sent him away alive.  I guess he's still of use to him, but he'll have to make it up."

"Did he say anything about your actions?"  Dumbledore asked refilling both their cups.

"Actually, he credited me with saving the day.  He seemed to think that if I'd done anything that could have raised suspicions, that would have been the final straw."

He nodded slowly, mulling over what he had been told.  "I'm assuming that this…this connection, has something to do with the channelling?"

"It would seem to be the most sensible cause I've been able to come up with.  You were able to feel her presence straight after you had broken the link proper so to speak?"  Severus nodded.  

"But it was certainly gone after she collapsed."  He added.

"And this is the first time since then that either of you have been in a severely stressful situation, so perhaps….."  Albus suggested and Severus continued.

"It is possible that that's what activated the link."

"Hmmmm.  Possibly.  We really ought to do some more investigation into this."

"You said that the experience wasn't particularly pleasant for Minerva?"

"Yes, but nothing serious and I think once she realises what it is that's going on, she will be able to have a little more control."

"I have to say that when she started thinking of the cool places she was certainly a… comforting presence."

"But you're certain that Voldemort suspected nothing?"

"Nothing.  What about here?"

"She made a rather hasty exit from the dining room but that is easily enough explained."

"It would certainly be best for all of us, I think, if this was kept quiet."

"Quite, quite."  He replied whilst deep in thought.  What Voldemort would choose to do with that kind of information was not a pleasant thought.

            The next three months were an odd combination of secrets for Albus Dumbledore.  While the school year continued as usual his involvement with the Order became heavier, despite Voldemort having gone quiet.  Add to that the more secretive investigations into the lingering bond between Minerva and Severus and things were distinctly more hectic than usual.  Having explained what they thought was happening to Minerva, the three of them had decided that some additional expertise was going to be required if they were to come up with any solutions.  This being the case, they had informed both Poppy Pomfrey and Fillius Flitwick, who had been in the process of documenting the event for a charms journal in any case, and together they had been researching, hypothesising and eventually conducting their own experiments.  Poppy had been the one to figure that the simplest way to determine whether or not it had been the stress that had resulted in the link re-initiating would be to recreate those conditions.  While Severus had suggested throwing the Gryffindor out of a tower window, the mediwitch had simply injected him with high levels of adrenalin.  When that did result in the connection being re-established, at least to some extent, they attempted the reverse, injecting Minerva.  This also had the same effect and though the experience was not particularly pleasant for either, of them it certainly wasn't to be the worst.  If Albus were honest, he would admit that he was concerned about both of them. Though they had tried several combinations of potions and charms, the adrenalin had always had the same results and the side effects had not always been pleasant.  What worried him most though was that they were still putting up a front for the students and most of the staff.  On one occasion Severus had been called and only been able to leave once he had dismissed class.  He had been reprimanded for his lateness and whilst this was going on Minerva had had little choice but to continued teaching her class.  When he had gone to see why she had not appeared at lunch, he had found her with her head on her desk where she had, it seemed, simply fallen asleep after her students had left.  In any case, there was a little light at the end of the tunnel in that, a few days ago Severus had left to go to a 10-day symposium on truth serums.  It had been his idea in reality, designed primarily to get some distance between the two of them, thereby ensuring that there could be further experimentation, and due to the fact that this conference was being held in St Petersburg, Russia, Voldemort had had little choice but to excuse Severus from any obligations.  He planned to try and convince Minerva to go away for at least a few days when the school broke up for spring break in a fortnight or so, but for the moment all he could do was hope the space would be of some help.

            Albus had been covering the more advanced potions classes himself and it was when he had finished cleaning up after a rather trying class that he began to get the feeling that something was wrong.  As the dungeons were so far away from the main body of the school, and so well insulated from the noise of the students that when he heard the muffled noises from, what he assumed was the main stairwell, he was somewhat shocked.  Since the incident before Christmas the staircases had been somewhat temperamental, moving more frequently than they had previously, which in turn had resulted in a little more chaos when the entire school was headed in one direction – like lunch.  He hurried along the corridors and as he realised the level and tone of the noise that was emanating from the stairwell he began to outright run. 

A/N:  Please let me know what you think, I really do enjoy reading what you have to say.


	12. Chapter 12

**TIMES OF TRIAL**

**Chapter 12**

  
Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.  
  
  


Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

Authors Notes:  Thanks to M for beta-ing and everyone who did review.  Appols for the long wait.

*****

            "It is done, Milord."  Lucius said as he bowed deeply before the man who controlled his life almost entirely.

"And when can we be expecting Severus' company?"  The other man asked, as he continued to look at the stone floor of their unusual European location.

"If all goes to plan, in but a few hours Milord."  

"_If _all goes to plan Lucius?"

"There is always the possibility of things being delayed somewhat, if his departure from the school is later than we predicted, for example.  It would have been easier to organise all this if we had simply asked him for his cooperation."  He added hesitantly.

"And it would have entirely defeated the point of our subterfuge!"  Came the sharp reply.  "If we told him what we were planning we might just as well ask him to do the job himself!"  Lucius cringed at the other man's tone, he had not intended on angering him.

"My apologies."  He offered quietly, bowing his head further still.  Voldemort sighed.

"You would think that after your idiocy and the punishment you received for it, you would be more careful with your tongue."  He remained silent.  "Go from my sight and do not return until Severus arrives, and you had better hope he is not far behind schedule."  He backed away from the throne and did not turn his back until he was out of the room.  His treatment smarted.  He was anything but happy with being returned to the bottom of the heap so to speak, even if he were willing to admit that his actions in attempting to invade the school had been a little ill thought through.  Severus was hardly perfect but had somehow become the new golden boy, saving the day by acting against them.  It was ridiculous.  As was the fact that the Death Eaters had been mobilised in order to kidnap said man.  If their Lord was so certain that the other man could do the job required of him – why were they going through all this rigmarole?  Surely it really ought not matter whether or not he was discovered after he had walked into the school and blasted Albus bloody Dumbledore from here into the ever after.  But no – apparently their Lord wished to ensure that even if the potions master was caught in the act, that he could continue on as a respectable citizen in society.  Hence the fact that Voldemort intended to put his new favourite under the imperious curse before sending him back to the school to do the deed.  He supposed that if the plan were to fail, this complexity might allow for his continuing espionage in Dumbledore's inner circle; but surely if he couldn't even perform this task then he was useless to them in any case….  His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Nott.

"Well?"  Lucius snapped.

"He's just registered."  The other man reported. "He's in the room we expected and doesn't have to be anywhere in the next two hours."

"Good.  And everything else is in place?"

"Yes Lucius."

"Well that's one thing in your favour.  Proceed as planned in that case – I want him here by midnight and not a second later!  Understand?  Our Lord will be awaiting his arrival."

            Despite his fears it seemed that his underlings were not entirely incompetent, as at a quarter to twelve he was informed that Severus Snape had been installed in the dungeons.  When he entered a half hour later with his lord, it was to see the other man hanging from the walls of the deepest darkest dungeon in the building.  The other man was blindfolded and apparently totally lost by what was going on around him.  He turned his head from one direction to another, appearing to try and follow the sounds of the few that were still walking across the bare flagstones.  No one said a word, which was part of the plan. Although their Lord predicted that their prisoner would surely recognise his captors eventually, he was going to get absolutely no confirmation from their side.  This was, of course, true and as their Lord ran a hand over his newly exposed chest, the Professor spoke his thoughts aloud.

"My Lord?"  Voldemort seemed to be pleased with this instant recognition but didn't stay long.  After a cursory glance at the apparatus that was hung around the room, he turned back towards Lucius and climbing the stairs they left the dungeon without a word.

"I need to be in England tomorrow."  The other man began as soon as the door was sealed behind them.  "But I will return as soon as I can and we will begin to work on him then.  In the meantime, feel free to treat him like the prisoner he is supposed to be.  Nothing too excessive mind – he will need to be entirely compis-mentis when we begin."

"Of course my Lord."  He replied with a small bow of his head.

"I will endeavour to ensure that no one at the school has realised something is wrong but with Severus here that will be far harder."

"There is no reason we can think of that the alarm should be raised."  He added, hoping to assuage any doubts his master was having.

"Well, we shall see.  But if this works Malfoy  - I shall be most impressed with you."  With that and a swirl of heavy black fabric Voldemort departed.

            Though Lucius had always gained a certain… enjoyment out of torturing people, Severus was a most irritating subject.  Throughout the day he had tried more than once to get the man to writhe or cry out but it had been totally ineffectual.  In the end, he had had one of the more intelligent members of their group heal the whip marks across his back, as seeing them there just reminded him of the failure to elicit a response.  It wasn't that he was incapable of breaking the other man, he knew for certain that that was within his expertise, but not necessarily with those means that he was being allowed.  In any case, when he rose at dawn the following morning to ensure that everything was ready for their Lord's return, he had a distinct feeling that today was going to be an interesting day.  Whatever it was that their Lord had been seeing to at home, it had obviously left him in a foul mood as all around could tell, resulting in a rather impressive scurrying away of all persons whose presence was not entirely essential.  Luckily, Severus had always been good at following commands when he had no other choice.  Two of the other men released the shackles that held his arms above his head before moving him swiftly to the centre of the room and then binding his wrists securely behind his back.  Lucius was beginning to wonder if there was any point to his presence at all as their Lord began a cursory inspection of their captive.  He was so deep in his quiet fuming that he almost missed it, when things did begin to happen.

"_Imperio_."  There was a surge in the magical air that encompassed the room but it didn't last long.  Much to his surprise the spell hadn't taken at all.  "_Imperio_."  The Lord tried again with similar results, and this time his growing anger was more than apparent in the room's atmosphere.

"_Imperio_."  There was a surge in the magical air that encompassed the room, but it didn't last long.  Much to his surprise, the spell hadn't taken at all.  "_Imperio_."  The Lord tried again with similar results and this time his growing anger was more than apparent in the room's atmosphere.  After another half an hour they retreated from the dungeons still without success.  After overseeing that Severus was once again securely fastened to the wall, Lucius went to the drawing room to face their master.  Despite his fears that the other man would be in one of his more vile and abusive moods, he found him sipping contentedly at a glass of wine.

"My Lord."  He greeted the other man and took the silent offer of a drink.  After he had poured his own glass, Voldemort chose to break his silence.

"I always knew that he was made of sterner stuff."

"It is…unusual, that anyone would be able to resist your casting for so long."  He said, trying to choose his words exceptionally carefully.  

"Yes but I do believe that it is an encouraging sign that Severus has managed it."

"My Lord?"  He asked unsurely.

"Do not forget that Severus works for me in the Lion's den, so to speak.  It is not impossible that he could be wary of Dumbledore or one of his comrades trying to read his mind while at work or even when he gets away."  

"I suppose."  Lucius replied, not agreeing entirely but at least vaguely understanding where the other man was coming from.  In any case he was glad that their Lord was not upset by the way things had developed.

"After all, we have almost a week – though I'd rather not leave it that late."  He added as an after thought.  "However,"  he continued, a strange kind of glee spreading across his features.  "I think I know how best to proceed."

            Indeed, although it took almost another three hours before they actually had any concrete success, they did eventually have just that.  It was a joint effort in the end, as though their subject was beginning to tire and the Dark Lord was able to penetrate his defences, it would never last long.  So as Lucius distracted him with a short burst of the Cruciatus, the other cast the Imperius.  Severus went rigid where he stood, and the closest thing the other man had ever seen to a smile spread across the face of their Lord.  Leaning forward a little, Voldemort whispered into his newly enraptured servent's ear.

"Walk forward."

There was a moment's hesitation and then he did it.  It was halting and jerky but he took a stride forward.  But then he stopped and after a second dropped to the floor.  Lucius approached cautiously but it was soon plain to see that the man was unconscious.

"Unusual."  Was all their Lord said.  "But a start nonetheless.  Re-hang him and we shall continue in the morning.  I suspect we shall make far quicker progress then."


	13. Chapter 13

**TIMES OF TRIAL**

**Chapter 13**

Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, objects etc. that you recognise belong to me. They are mot likely the property of one JK Rowling.

Summery: This story is and will probably always be centred on Minerva McGonagall and the other professors at Hogwarts. It is set in Harry's fifth year and the dream-team will likely appear however. The rating may be subject to change but all reviews are welcome.

Authors Notes:  Thanks to again M for beta-ing and to Q for her stellar reviewing grin.   Thanks to everyone else who dropped me a note and if you didn't…. shame on you!!!! lol  Would really appreciate your predictions again so let me know what you think

Thanks

xLx

            Minerva McGonagall was certain that she had never been more exhausted than she felt at this moment in time.  The last few months had been hell on earth in some respects and she was beginning to feel her age catching up with her fast.  It had been three days since Severus left to go away to his conference, and though it had been Albus's suggestion, they had both taken the enforced lull in their experimentation gratefully.  She had planned on trying to catch up with some lost sleep and generally pamper herself just a little during his absence, but thus far her plans had been somewhat skewed by everything.  Having no class first thing this morning, she had had every intention of sleeping through breakfast and having a luxurious bath before facing the rest of the world.  It seemed, however, that the fates had other ideas, as she had been woken at 6.30 in order to mediate a dispute that had erupted in the third year girls dormitory.  She risked a glance at the clock and was relieved to see that there were only ten minutes left till the end of classes for the day.  She stood and began to walk around the room monitoring how much longer the first year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class would require in order to finish copying the notes she had put on the blackboard earlier.  Just as she reached the back of the room, she felt the world tilt slightly under her feet.  She blinked slowly a few times and her mind and the world around her seemed to come back into focus.  Closing them again she took a deep breath and allowed herself a moment of stillness before heading purposefully back to her desk.  At first she had put the days lingering headache down to tension or lack of sleep, but the episodes of slight disorientation had been getting worse.  She supposed that it could well be an after effect of one of the many slightly bizarre treatments she'd undergone in the last three months, or on the other hand it could well just be a sign that she really did need to slow down a little.  Either way, she thought as she again had to focus on looking at the lesson plan that was sitting directly in front of her, she suspected it might be a good idea to speak to Poppy after dinner.  After shaking her head clear once again, she managed to get through handing out homework assignments and had them packing up just as the bell rang.  Picking up the previous class' essays, she followed the first-years out and towards the main staircase.  The buzz of the school at this time of day never failed to give her a little boost and she revelled in all the youthful chatter that surrounded her.  When she was halfway down the stairs, she felt the jolt of it disconnecting with one landing only to begin its slow shuddering rotation to another.  She felt like rolling her eyes.  Though in the past the castle seemed to reserve its major configurational changes for when there was no one around, it had become a little unpredictable since the incident with the Death Eaters before Christmas, with the stairs moving more often and more than once during the 'rush hour' that was well underway at the moment.  Hearing that some of the students she had followed from her classroom were beginning to panic at this latest turn of events, she eased her way forward till she stood on the lowest step.

"Miss Johnson there is no need to overreact like that.  And Mr. Harpey please refrain from elbowing your classmates."  They settled down quickly once their formidable professor was in their midst though.  Turning around she tried to gauge how long it was going to be before they could continue on their journey, then looked down to see what the levels below were doing.  She spotted Fillius Flitwick on the flight below her and on the lower level the students seemed to be dealing with things perfectly well on their own.  As she looked down at the edge of the marble step though, the disorientation that had become a familiar sensation today returned, followed by something far more alarming as something tugging at the edge of her conscience.  She tried to fight it; her alarm rising rapidly.  Try as she might she couldn't seem to do anything to get the attention of those around her.  Couldn't seem to get the words to form or even get her body to cooperate enough to turn towards her students.  But then it was to late…

She was falling, as if in slow motion, and though she couldn't quite seem to grasp hold of what was going on, of why she was plummeting feet first towards the ground, her self-preservation instincts kicked in.  She transformed into her feline form without really thinking about it and automatically her position shifted in the air so that she was going to land on all fours.  Detachedly, she acknowledged that there was someone screaming but was quite certain it wasn't her.  There was more than one voice, young voices, students.  Thankfully, it was her concern for her pupils that held her attention as the time warping bubble seemed to pop, throwing slow motion into fast forward.  She was aware of the impact to some extent, but a wave of white-hot pain engulfed her and everything turned black before she could make sense of any of the disjointed signals her body was sending.

When she became aware of her surroundings again, she had the oddest sensation that she was facing the wrong direction.  She knew somewhere in her muddied mind that she had fallen, landed even, on her face, yet now she was gazing at the ceiling. The pain was still there, radiating from her arms and legs so that she knew she had landed and yet now she could see a ceiling above her.  Her first, somewhat sluggish thought, was that someone had turned her over but the view was still wrong – she couldn't tell why but she felt as if it were too low, too close to her.  But still there was something wrong.  She didn't feel…connected with what she was seeing, sensing even.  Perhaps she was still suffering from concussion, but she had had several fairly severe cases of that in the past and never felt quite like this; yet the feeling was eerily familiar.  However, she had never fallen three flights onto the schools entrance hall floor before.  The image that this slightly bizarre thought conjured seemed to re-boot her memory of what happened before she fell.  Again though, something wasn't quite right.  She knew that she had been on the bottom of a flight of stairs but yet she could see herself standing in the room she was in now and then she had taken a step forward.  Because they had told him to, told her to, and then she had been falling… She closed her eyes but the world around her stayed constant and it was only then she realised that she had never really had them open in the first place.  Only then that she really became aware that there was another presence there.  Trying to organize her thoughts, she tentatively tried to feel the other person out.  It didn't take long for her to realise that it was Severus.  After all, it wasn't as if there was a long list of people she had shared this kind of perpetually intimate mental bond with.  She was frustrated though; she wanted to communicate with him, ask him questions and perhaps even receive an answer.  But then there was a change in perspective, he had moved it seemed, so that he could watch the door that was opening once again.  Minerva could feel the carefully constructed barriers going up and decided that this was something worth noting.  The figure which entered was eerily familiar and it only took her a moment to identify the blonde as a Malfoy.  He was not alone however, and the increased apprehension that she could feel in Severus was enough for her to be able to identify the Dark Lord.  Her thoughts were moving more freely now, she felt less sluggish but yet she still couldn't comprehend what it was that was going on.  Had their spy been discovered?  Why would a Master treat a _loyal_ servant like this?  The questions ran continually through her head.  She couldn't hear what it was they were saying to each other or to Severus, and the images were not clear enough that she could recognise the movements of their mouths.  All of a sudden though there was the familiar pain, the fire burning up and down every fibre of her body.  She tried to stay calm knowing that this was the best she could do for him, but then there was something else.  Something forcing its way in towards them.  She felt Severus throw everything he could into resisting but he was failing.  There was an alien urge to walk forward and it was that that seemed to make the connection in her mind.  Imperious.  She tried to help him, added her own defences carefully camouflaged behind his.  This time it seemed that this did the trick.  After what seemed like an eternity they were gone.  The two of them were left alone.  When the door swung shut the wave of relief she felt from the potions master was almost corporeal.


End file.
